SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – With cactus thorns sticking out of his finger, Xander Schauffele was reminded he was in somewhat foreign territory during Thursday’s first round of the WM Phoenix Open.
“Some people in the crowd were like, ‘Oh, this kid’s from San Diego,’” Schauffele said. “They’re right. We don’t really have cholla or whatever you call it.”
It was actually a prickly pear that Schauffele imprudently grabbed on No. 6 at TPC Scottsdale, but the splinters didn’t end up ruining what was a solid round. He finished in a tie for third with a 4-under 67, the highlight coming on No. 15 when he holed out from the bunker for eagle.
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“I’m happy with it,” he said. “It looks like we’re 1 off the lead right now. I’m not really sure what the wind is supposed to be doing (late Thursday) afternoon, but this is probably the firmest and fastest I’ve seen this golf course. You have to play smart.”
After his tee shot found a prickly pear on the sixth, Schauffele noticed a loose cactus pad near his feet. He figured he might as well clear it out, but when he reached to pick it up he realized he had not considered the possibility of thorns on the hidden underside. He was left with “six or seven” thorns sticking out of his right middle finger.
“That was a rookie move,” he said. “Maybe next time I’ll grab a towel or use my glove hand or something like that.”
Things are getting …
Prickly for @XSchauffele 🌵 pic.twitter.com/RBFWXLQ127
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 10, 2022
As it turns out, that incident was far from the most dramatic experience of Schauffele’s previous 24 hours. On Wednesday, his caddie, Austin Kaiser, called him at 6 a.m. and told him he wasn’t feeling good. He wound up testing positive for COVID-19.
The two were staying in the same house in town — Kaiser downstairs, Schauffele upstairs — raising concerns that Kaiser might not be the only positive case. So far, Schauffele said he has remained negative.
“I’m kind of in a weird boat here,” he said. “I’m testing every morning. I got off to a good start here, so hopefully I can keep playing.”
He said he hopes he doesn’t have a similar experience to Jon Rahm at last year’s Memorial Tournament, when he was forced to withdraw after the third round due to a positive test despite owning a 6-stroke lead.
Schauffele said Kaiser had a rough case of COVID, but he was hopeful his caddie will recover soon enough to rejoin him for next week’s Genesis Open in Los Angeles. For now, an old college friend, Kevin Techakanokboon, is helping out.
“Fortunately with ‘Tech,’ we’ve played a ton of golf together,” Schauffele said. “He’s caddied for me once. There are small things that Austin knows to do that ‘Tech’ has no idea what to do. But he plays and it’s very helpful for me. I can trust his reads and sort of his feels, as well.”
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