Xander Schauffele pulls out of the 2023 Sentry Tournament of Champions due to backache
In a major development, Xander Schauffele has pulled out of the 2023 Sentry Tournament of Champions. The 29-year-old golfer withdrew from the PGA Tour event citing backache.
Schauffele had earlier withdrawn from Wednesday’s Pro-am due to back pain. Following this, the golfer on Thursday revealed that he is yet to diagnose his back, which has been nagging him since the Hero World Challenge last month. The ace golfer said that he wasn’t sure about the cause of the pain.
Just hours after stating that he will get his back thoroughly examined when he returns home to San Diego, Schauffele announced his withdrawal from the ongoing elevated event.
“Just trying to figure out what it is. So, yeah, it’s just a bummer,” he said.
Xander Schauffele has withdrawn in the second round @Sentry_TOC with a back injury. https://t.co/lGjjNDDRVm
Schauffele’s decision came after an opening round of 3-under 70 at Hawaii. The world No. 6 player said that he couldn't swing at full speed and needed to get the MRI done quickly. The 2019 Tournament of Champions winner went on to reveal that his pain was identical to the one he suffered in the Bahamas earlier last year.
"It feels like a very similar deal to the Bahamas… In the Bahamas, I started to feel better each day... This is not getting any better. It actually feels worse when I swing," he added.
Schauffele went on to reveal that his caddie, Austin Kaiser, suggested him to withdraw.
"We have a lot of tournaments coming up. Are you going to look back and be proud of yourself for gutting it out and hurting yourself more? Or should we be smart here and pull out?" Kaiser told him.
The PGA Tour star added that he needed to take better care of his physical health. He dubbed his decision to not get his back checked as being “immature.”
"I was back to full everything with my routine… That was immature on my part. I'm 29. I need to preserve my health," he added.
Xander Schauffele's hilarious WD explanation:
“I try to exercise more, eat better, do everything better and I should have just stayed fat and more mobile, I guess, and not worked out and tried to do all these good things and I would have been, like, a golfer from the early 90s.”
Xander Schauffele bags paycheck for finishing last
It is pertinent to note that Xander Schauffele was sitting at T26 at the end of round one. The golfer was six shots behind the trio of co-leaders Jon Rahm, Collin Morikawa and J.J. Spaun, and was visibly struggling to keep up the pace. The golfer also looked in discomfort as he navigated through the course.
Schauffele, however, won't be returning empty-handed. The golfer, who was among the big names on the elevated event’s roster, bagged $200,000 on his exit. This is unofficial money for finishing last place at the event, which has a total prize purse of $15 million.
Notably, the American will also take home another $1.25 million, for finishing at No. 7 in the Player Impact Program. This comes as part of the setup which allows players to get 25% of the PIP bonus money this week. They will be granted the remaining sum as they meet their other obligations tied to the PIP program.
It is safe to say that the world No.6 had a decent outing despite the back injury ending his tournament early.