Xander Schauffele takes a practice round in front of the 2025 Sentry at the Kapalua Plantation Course in Maui.
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The New Year is a time for reflection. Especially for professional players, who begin their 2025 year at this week’s season opener sentry in Kapalua on Maui.
In fact, Xander Schauffele, the top man in the field, reflected on his 2024 stats when he met with the media on Tuesday.
“My wedge game sucked,” he said. “It was really bad. Really, really bad. Golf is hard.”
Those were Schauffele’s words — not ours — but we’ll add context. Schauffele ranked sixth in SG: Approach the Green (.678) last season, but a deeper dive reiterates his point. From 200 yards he was ranked 5th in SG: Approach, but as he got closer to the hole, his ranking began to slide into reverse. He ranked between 45th and 70th in the three categories from 125 to 200 yards, but from 50 to 125 yards — prime wedge territory — he was 171st, averaging 21 feet, 5 inches from the hole.
Specifically, he was 168th from 100-125 yards, 100th from 75-100 yards and 155th from 50-75 yards.
Dylan Dethier
“With my club a little more vertical in my backswing, it doesn’t fit the best — it’s great for driver, great for long irons, the stats show that — then, with a wedge it’s, you know, the club moves around a bit, it’s not ideal for hitting a distance wedge,” he said. “It’s something I’m trying to work on, still working on it now, still trying to figure it out, get the right feel for it.
“When my shoulders were much flatter, the club was much looser and tighter, and I was more spinner,” he continued. “I was a really, really good wedge player, really good inside 150. And then the club is going the other way, even higher, and now all of a sudden I can smoke my driver and a The 4-iron, but suddenly, like a 90-yard wedge is a little bit, sometimes. So just try to figure that out.”
To be fair, Schauffele is fine with the compromise. He ranked 10th in SG: Off the Tee and was second in SG: Total (not to mention 12th in SG: Putting). This formula helped him to 15 top 10s and his first two major titles.
“It seemed to work well for me last year, so I’m working with it,” Schauffele said. “If I can find something in the middle I will, but maybe I just need to practice my wedges a lot more.”
As the No. 2 player in the world, he is trailing only Scottie Scheffler, who had to withdraw from this week’s tournament due to injury. Scheffler’s hitting prowess has been well documented. Last season he ranked first in SG: Total, second in group and first in approach (and 77th).
From 50 to 125 yards — where Schauffele placed 171st — Scheffler was first, averaging 13 feet, 9 inches, more than seven feet better than Schauffele.
“That would be a zone (by inches closer to Scheffler),” Schauffele said. “Around the green, short game, it’s a pitch that’s not bad, it’s nothing special that I do, just pretty good. Those are some points where I can improve, for sure.”
As for catching Scheffler, it won’t be easy. The gap between Scheffler and Schauffele in the world rankings is almost the same as the gap between Schauffele and No. 22 Aaron Rai.
“We are all quite competitive. We all want to beat each other so bad. “He’s such a good guy and I can’t say anything bad about him, honestly, especially after what happened to him last year,” Schauffele said. “I think the true colors come out when you’re facing a bad place, like when he was arrested. So he’s a 10 out of 10 guy in my opinion, so I have to try to hate him somehow. So if I put him on top of the mountain, and he’s somebody I have to catch, then maybe that’s how I should put him in my head.”
