"He was terrible" - Xander Schauffele criticized by fans after insane stat at Valspar Championship comes to light 

Xander Schauffele recently faced criticism after his stats at the 2025 Valspar Championship came up. Paul Hodowanic shed some light on the PGA Tour professional's strokes gained. This caused Schauffele to face criticism from fans of the sport on X.

Hodowanic is a journalist at PGA Tour. On March 25, he posted on X that Schauffele gained 11.276 strokes on approach while he played at Copperhead Course. He also shared a video of Xander Schauffele hitting a shot at 145 mph. The shot reached an apex of 129 ft before landing near the pin. Hodowanic wrote:

"Just got this stat confirmed from our @PGATOUR data team. 👀"

"Xander Schauffele gained 11.276 strokes on approach at the Valspar Championship. That is the highest total he has ever had in his PGA TOUR career..."

Schauffele finished the 2025 Valspar Championship at T12, with a total score of 5-under 279. He scored four back-to-back birdies while playing at the back nine of Round 4, finishing the round at 5-under 66. However, Xander Schauffele's third round had two consecutive bogeys at the front nine. He scored only two birdies against two bogeys and one double bogey in the back nine. This led to his round total score of 4-over 75.

Fans were quick to hit back at Hodowanic by bringing up Xander Schauffele's performance during the third round of Valspar.

"Shows you what a use stat most golf analytics are. He was terrible for 3 rounds until the 4th.", a fan criticised Schauffele in the comments.

"Wouldn't that just mean everything else sucked? 12 seems high... heck 5 seems high", someone else commented.

"Ask an average golfer to explain strokes gained," a fan said below the post about Xander Schauffele.

"he stunk on Saturday. Not to say he doesn't have a chance at Augusta National but I don't think he's peaking in April," another X user replied.

"Jesus how bad was his driving and putting," a fan said in the comments.

"You can't lick it," an X user replied below.

Schauffele tied for the fifth spot in last year's Valspar Championship. He shot a total 8-under 276 at Innisbrook's Copperhead Course. Schauffele took home a $298,725 paycheck from this PGA Tour event.

---

Xander Schauffele's earnings in this season so far

Last year, Schauffele earmed $57,295,643 from the PGA Tour that landed him the 14th spot on the 2024 career earning leaderboard. This year, he has played in four PGA Tour events, and till now, he has earned $444,100 from the Tour.

Here's a detailed look at Schauffele's 2025 PGA Tour earnings so far:

• The Sentry (Kapalua Resort (Plantation Course)): T30, 72-70-66-67, 275 (-17), $137,500
• Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard (Arnold Palmer's Bay Hill Club & Lodge): T40, 77-71-75-69, 292 (+4), $78,000
• THE PLAYERS Championship (TPC Sawgrass (THE PLAYERS Stadium Course)): 72, 72-71-77-81, 301 (+13), $50,250
• Valspar Championship (Innisbrook Resort (Copperhead Course)): T12, 70-68-75-66, 279 (-5), $178,350