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When Xander Schauffele left Scotland 12 months ago and headed back home to America, he was breathing rarefied air as the most in-form player on the planet.
In the space of just two months, Schauffele had smashed the tag of being golf’s nearly man in the majors by winning the USPGA at Valhalla and then the Open Championship at Royal Troon.
With the Claret Jug tucked away in his luggage as he returned to the States, adding to the Wanamaker Trophy already in the cabinet, the popular Californian had reached the top of the mountain.
Schauffele shot 65 on the final day at Troon, a round he would later describe as the greatest of his life after storming to victory in Ayrshire.
Yet, as he makes his return to Scotland this week, the picture looks very different indeed. By his own admission, Schauffele has gone from the best season of his career, to now being mired in the worst.
The 31-year-old has managed only one top-10 finish all season on the PGA Tour and has no real form to speak of as he arrives in East Lothian for the Genesis Scottish Open.
Xander Schauffele celebrates with the Claret Jug after winning The Open at Royal Troon
He's had a tough few months but Xander Shauffele was in good spirits at the Scottish Open
The American hopes he can return to the form that saw him win The Open last year in Scotland
As a past champion of this event in 2022, Schauffele’s picture adorns many of the huge billboards dotted around the property here at The Renaissance.
Given his struggles over the past few months after a rib injury, it was slightly unfortunate - if poetic - that Schauffele clocked a picture of himself right next to the toilets in the media centre yesterday afternoon.
‘It was nice to see my photo out by the toilet,’ he smiled. ‘That was heartwarming. It summed up how I feel about what’s going on right now. Yeah, I actually chuckled when I saw that one.
‘It’s been a pretty bad year to be completely honest. The best part of my game has probably been that mental fortitude to still believe I can win. Belief shouldn’t be too attached to how you’re playing.
‘But, yeah, it’s been tough. Coming off a year like last year, getting hurt, coming back, my expectations and playing ability have not cued up very nicely.
‘I probably downplayed the injury in my own mind, like: “Yeah, you’ll be fine, you’ve been playing great golf; you just came off the best year of your career”. I’ve backed it up currently with the worst year of my career.
‘I’m very upset with how I’ve been playing. But I’ve just really taken on this mindset of looking at how I would behave when things are going really well. Mental fortitude is important and keeping a calm mindset.
‘I don’t care if guys get mad or sad or smash clubs or whatever. This is just a me thing. I know when I’m playing really well, I behave a certain way and my mind is in a certain place.
‘I’ve just trying to rinse and repeat and plug myself in that position. But I’ve been spoiled to play at a pretty high level for quite some time. This has been a fun experience to try to get back on the horse.’
When the Americans won the Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits in 2021, Schauffele turned up at the media conference afterwards smoking a chunky cigar.
It is fair to say that he knows how to enjoy himself, but he joked yesterday that he had to nip things in the bud before they got out of hand following his victory at Royal Troon last year.
Asked how his life had changed following that win, he joked: ‘I drank a little bit more than I normally do, that was probably the biggest change. My life was trending towards an alcoholic.
‘It’s been a weird year for me just from coming off the season I had, the best of my career last year, into sort of what I did just kind of disappearing and then playing bad coming out of it.
‘So any expectation I had of whatever I thought I was capable of doing, you know, from last year, has been sort of reset and I am in full chase mode, like a kid.’
Despite his struggles over recent months, Schauffele is still pretty much a shoo-in to make the US Ryder Cup team later this year.
Most of that is based on the sackful of points he won last season, but he is confident that Keegan Bradley can lead the Americans to victory come what may.
It looks increasingly likely that Bradley will have to combine his captaincy duties with being a player on the US team at Bethpage Black.
Asked if that’s a realistic proposition, Schauffele replied: ‘Yeah, clearly he’s earning it. If you ask him, he’s playing the best golf of his career. We just want our best 12 guys playing. That’s what it really comes down to.
‘So he is just flying up the standings. Would I be surprised if he got into the top six (automatic) places and it wasn’t even a conversation anymore? I don’t think I’d be very surprised and I don’t think he would either.
‘If he does, it’s going to be a fun situation for himself, but I think he’s surrounded himself with really good vice-captains.
‘I don’t think he’s going to make a decision he regrets. If he does play, I expect it will be some sort of co-captaincy.’
Schauffele is confident that he has now fully recovered from the rib injury which forced him into an eight-week lay-off at the turn of the year.
Having won both the Scottish Open and the Open Championship in recent years, he hopes this two-week swing can help him recapture top form as he prepares to head to Royal Portrush next week.
‘Something about playing over here relaxes me a little bit - I definitely try to play less golf swing in my mind,’ said the World No 3.
‘So if I can just get out of my own way, that would be the thing that would make me happiest right now more than even winning a tournament. That would just be the result.
‘I remember talking last year about some sort of mountain and climbing up it (to become World No 1). That is a steep, steep mountain now (given the dominance of Scottie Scheffler).
‘Yeah, I was really concerned about it when I was firing at a high level and I feel like I can kind of win every week and right now, like I said, small victories is where I’m battling.
If I can play 72 holes without fiddling with my golf swing this week, that would be a massive win, and wherever I finish, I finish. That would be a good place for me to get to before I play next week.
‘For me, right now, it’s about small victories. You know, if we can move my photo away from the toilet it would be awesome...’
