Xander Schauffele eyes title defence | The 153rd Open

“He kept telling me that when I’d sit with him and have dinner with him. I thought about it for sure, just how quickly we move on to the next thing.

“I just think at some point in my career I’ll do that, but right now I really want to keep my head down and keep charging.”

For now, however, Schauffele wants the Claret Jug back.

On Monday, he handed the famous trophy to R&A Chief Executive Mark Darbon, but does not intend to be apart from it for long.

“It is a bummer to give up the trophy, I want to get it back,” he said.

“I was close at the Scottish Open last week, I had a better understanding of what I was doing when I hit bad shots so that was helpful.

“There were a couple of days where it was windy and it helped me shape the ball, so that was good.

“I don’t think it was easy to learn links golf, I am still learning a lot.

“Even lasty week to this week is different. I am learning about how the ball reacts on different grass, whether it will jump or not.

“Links golf is a mentality, it comes with weather and when there is bad weather you need to have a good attitude.”

Nobody could deny Xander Schauffele has that.

Continue Reading