Two-time Major champion Xander Schauffele has identified Rory McIlroy’s career Grand Slam achievement as being a “pretty scary thing” for his rivals.
Schauffele – who defends his US PGA title at Quail Hollow next month and The Open at Royal Portrush in July – believes the Northern Irishman has the potential to freewheel into future Majors without any of the mental scars or pressure that had accompanied his efforts for more than a decade.
“It’s incredible for the game of golf. It is really good for the game of golf. There’s no other way to put it, to be honest,” admitted Schauffele, adding: “[Rory] winning, just anytime he’s on-site [at tournaments] ... no one is going to be like Tiger [Woods], but I’d call Rory and the likes of Scottie [Scheffler] a close second. If you just look at how many people follow 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!”
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Rory McIlroy’s Grand Slam is ‘pretty scary’, says Xander Schauffele
Yet Schauffele – who has the best record of anyone in his last five Major outings, with a sequence of eighth, first, seventh, first and eighth – also believes that he could slip in slightly under the radar come his defence of the Claret Jug at Royal Portrush due to extra eyes being on Shane Lowry, winner of the championship on the Dunluce Links in 2019, and also on McIlroy, who has some unfinished business after missing the cut on the Open’s return to the north Antrim links five years ago.
“[I heard] there’s going to be an attendance record [for The Open at Royal Portrush]. One of their own just won the Grand Slam, so everyone wants to get a piece of him ... 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,” said Schauffele, the world number three, fully fit again after recovering from a rib injury that affected his early-season campaign.
