PGA champ Xander Schauffele rides good vibes, hot putter to opening 68 at Memorial

In his first week back to work since his career-changing major victory, Xander Schauffele joked Tuesday that he probably shot a nine-hole score in the 40s during a sloppy practice round at Muirfield Village.

Thursday at The Memorial wasn’t much cleaner – but Schauffele filled it up on the greens and walked off with a 4-under 68 to figure prominently, once again, in another marquee PGA Tour event.

“I’m going to go to the range after we finish talking and hit the center of the clubface a little more, find some more fairways and some more greens,” he told reporters. “I’m happy with how I played, with how I stuck in there, and really happy my short game bailed me out on a day that could have been a lot worse.”

That’s about how it’s gone lately for Schauffele, who is a career-best No. 2 in the world ranking and playing the best golf of his life. His last start was at Valhalla for the PGA Championship, where he shot a major-record 21 under par to capture his first Grand Slam title.

Details of the after-party are still a bit hazy. He was gifted five bottles of whiskey from a member at the club. He drank champagne out of the Wanamaker Trophy. Most of his crew left at 3 a.m. He flew back home to South Florida and spent the next two days doing prominent media interviews.

Then it was back to work.

Schauffele’s return to competition has brought a wave of well-wishes from everyone from players to caddies to tournament staff in Ohio.

“A lot of people are saying congratulations,” he said. “Everyone has been super kind to me. So just a lot of good energy coming my way and just trying to take advantage of that.”

But Schauffele also knows that it’ll take more than just good vibes to stay in the mix at The Memorial, especially with world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler already in the house a shot better than him. Schauffele hit just 11 greens but made up for it with 125 feet worth of putts and nearly four strokes gained in the opening round, tops in the field.

“I’m in a good spot,” Schauffele said. “You want to be in touch. It’s only Thursday and plenty of golf. I know I need to clean up some of that longer stuff. This course is really hard, and the wind is supposed to blow really hard tomorrow, even more than today, so I know I need to clean it up.”