‘Not a Room That I Was Ever In’

With the 2024 season coming to an end, Jay Monahan will address the media. This is often regarded as the State of the Tour Speech by many, where he discusses various topics about professional golf. Xander Schauffele, who enters the Tour Championship in the second position in the standings, is not worried about it.

Stating that he has paid no attention to it throughout the season, the 2X Major Champion said, “I’ve been a little busy with my own — with my head in the sand, as I said earlier this year or last year or whatever.”

He has been putting his focus on trying to win the Player of the Year title, which has brought him so far, ending with his best-ever season finish in 2024.

He has no intentions of knowing what the others on Tour are up to, except for himself. “I just care how Xander is doing, and that’s pretty much it,” he added. When asked if he knew anything about the status of the merger for the 2025 season, he said that the PGA Tour board members did not discuss anything with him.

Although Jay Monahan has already announced the 2025 PGA Tour schedule, hinting at no leads on the merger for the upcoming year.

Only people on the transaction committee, like Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, and Fenway Sports Group founder John Henry, know the true status of the PGA Tour-PIF deal. Xander Schauffele was never really a part of the ‘people on the inside.’

“Those are behind-closed-doors talks. It’s not a room that I was ever in, and I haven’t thought much about it,” he added, stating that Jay Monahan shares updates about the merger with the players on their emails. However, they are not the entire deal discussed. And on top of that, Schauffele barely gets time to go through them. Leaving him clueless about the situation.

via Imago

Well, it looks like not delving too deeply into the details seems to be working out great for Xander Schauffele. He is set to tee off at the Tour Championship in just a few hours with Scottie Scheffler, and he is quite proud of how he has performed throughout the season.

Xander Schauffele setting new records for himself

“That’s probably why I’ve been playing much better. I’ve just been focusing on my stuff,” added Xander Schauffele. He has only been working on improving his swings, and the result? Well, Schauffele won two majors in one season—the PGA Championship and the Open. Additionally, in all the 20 events that he has participated in 2024, the 9X PGA Tour champion has managed to grab 14 top-10 finishes.

Also, not to mention that he has not finished outside the top 25 on the leaderboard since the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February. That was his worst finish this year (T54). The 30-year-old is the only player who possesses a chance to grab the FedEx Cup victory from Scottie Scheffler on Sunday. He mostly had top-10 finishes at East Lake.

Entering as the second player on the leaderboard, he will begin with an 8-under, two shots behind Scheffler. Are you excited about the final playoffs this weekend? Who are you rooting for? Let us know in the comments section below!