Xander Schauffele admits that if winning the Masters was the only thing holding Rory McIlroy back from opening the major floodgates then he is a very scary prospect for other players heading into the final three major championships this summer.
McIlroy completed the career grand slam and lifted his first major in eleven years at Augusta National a fortnight ago and many believe he can go on a similar run of major wins to what he achieved between 2011 and 2014 with some even tipping him for a calendar slam.
“Well, it’s incredible for the game of golf. It is really good for the game of golf,” said defending PGA and Open champion Schauffele when asked what impact McIlroy’s grand slam win could have on golf.
“There’s no other way to put it, to be honest. Him winning — just anytime he’s on-site, or at least having the Tiger Woods — no one is going to be like Tiger, but I’d call Rory and the likes of Scottie a close second. If you just look at how many people following them, how many people talk about them, anything to get eyeballs on our game is a good thing, and him winning the Masters, a generational talent to do what he did is obviously an incredible achievement.
“Again, scary for guys like us. If that was something that was holding him back and now he feels free, that could be a pretty scary thing.”
Pádraig Harrington has often said that players reel off major championships across an eighteen month to two year stretch so for Schauffele it would be no surprise if McIlroy went on a winning spree and picked up another four majors over a quick period of time.
But the 31-year-old has turned into a major machine himself with two wins and three top-8s in his last five starts.
“Yeah, if he’s firing on all cylinders. I’ve played against him when he’s done it, and it’s not fun for me. It’s fun for everyone else to watch, but it’s definitely a thing that’s hard to beat.
“Would I be surprised if he started rattling some off? No. Am I going to be there to try and stop him? Absolutely.”
Schauffele had won seven times on the PGA Tour before he cracked the code in major championships last year and part of what helped him take that form into the big tournaments and remove his nearly man tag was studying McIlroy’s habits.
“I think when I look at his game and what he can do — I look back at my game, and he was one of the examples at that time. I used him, Brooks, Bryson; those guys were all a lot stronger than me; they hit it further than me; they did certain things way better than I did. That was one of the areas I like to where I tried to pick up some of that slack.”
278,000 spectators will flood into Royal Portrush this July for McIlroy mania while Shane Lowry is the defending course champion having won the 2019 Open on the Dunluce Links.
The hype over the homecoming pair will be fever pitch that Schauffele might come in as one of the most under the radar Open champions.
“I was just told we have record attendance, for obvious reasons. One of their own just won the Grand Slam, so everyone wants to get a piece of him. That’s no different for the media. If I can use it to my advantage to sort of cruise along and fly under the radar, that’s exactly what I’ll do.”
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