“I like to needle people” - Xander Schauffele responds to Max Homa’s comment on him being an ‘underrated’ trash talker

Xander Schauffele responded to Max Homa's comment that the former was one of the underrated trash talkers on Tour. Schauffele was speaking at the pre-event press conference of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans alongside his partner Patrick Cantlay.

When asked about Xander's response to Homa's comment, he replied to reporters:

"Wow, that's an interesting call out, first of its kind for me. I like to have fun. I like to needle at people. Just like every child on the planet, if you don't like being needled, just ignore me. That's kind of how that works. When people start ignoring me, then I move on to the next target"

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"You kind of share the burden of stress and anxiety" - Xander Schauffele feels it is comparatively 'easier' to compete in team events

Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay are defending champions at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans

Team events are not as frequent on the PGA Tour as compared to individual ones, which take place almost every week. So it is natural that the players might take some time to adapt to the team format.

However, Xander Schauffele feels it is easier to play as a team than as an individual. During the pre-event conference of the Zurich Classic, he was asked if there were any different challenges while playing in the team events.

"I think it's easier as a team. You kind of share the burden of stress and anxiety that comes with winning a golf tournament versus it being all on your own."

"If you hit a bad shot, obviously when you're playing a tournament by yourself, you have to pick yourself up. This rare opportunity with this tournament and one other this year, most years your partner can pick you up when you're down. So I think it's probably a little bit easier to go wire to wire."

He also spoke about his chemistry with Cantlay, with whom he has played in the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup as well.

"I think with Pat and I, we played so much together, that more times than not, we're going to pick each other up when one of us isn't doing so well."

Schauffele and Cantaly are the defending champions at TPC Lousiana, where they beat the duo of Sam Burns and Billy Horschell by a two-stroke margin.

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Team details for the 2023 Zurich Classic

Here are the teams for the 2023 Zurich Classic:

1. Andrew Landry and Austin Cook
2. Augusto Nunez and Fabian Gomez
3. Austin Eckroat and Scott Harrington
4. Austin Smotherman and Harry Higgs
5. Ben Griffin and Ryan Gerard
6. Bill Haas and Jonathan Byrd
7. Brandon Matthews and Sean O'Hair
8. Brandon Wu and Joseph Bramlett
9. Brendon Todd and Patton Kizzire
10. Brent Grant and Kevin Roy
11. Byeong Hun An and S.H. Kim
12. Callum Tarren and Ben Taylor
13. Cameron Percy and Greg Chalmers
14. Carson Young and Kyle Westmoreland
15. Chad Collins and D.J. Trahan
16. Chad Ramey and Martin Trainer
17. Chesson Hadley and Ben Martin
18. Chris Stroud and William McGirt
19. Collin Morikawa and Max Homa
20. David Lingmerth and Jonas Blixt
21. David Lipsky and Aaron Rai
22. Davis Riley and Nick Hardy
23. Davis Thompson and Will Gordon
24. Derek Ernst and Robert Garrigus
25. Doug Ghim and Kramer Hickok
26. Dylan Frittelli and Matti Schmid
27. Edoardo Molinari and Luke Donald
28. Erik van Rooyen and MJ Daffue
29. Geoff Ogilvy and Kevin Stadler
30. Greyson Sigg and Brice Garnett
31. Harris English and Tom Hoge
32. Harrison Endycott and Aaron Baddeley
33. Harry Hall and Akshay Bhatia
34. J.J. Spaun and Hayden Buckley
35. Jason Dufner and Kevin Chappell
36. Jim Herman and Ryan Armour
37. Jimmy Walker and D.A. Points
38. Joel Dahmen and Denny McCarthy
39. John Daly and David Duval
40. Justin Lower and Dylan Wu
41. Kevin Tway and Kelly Kraft
42. Kurt Kitayama and Taylor Montgomery
43. Lee Hodges and Robby Shelton
44. Luke List and Henrik Norlander
45. Matt Fitzpatrick and Alex Fitzpatrick
46. Matt Wallace and Callum Shinkwin
47. Matthias Schwab and Vincent Norrman
48. Max McGreevy and Sam Stevens
49. Michael Kim and S.Y. Noh
50. Michael Thompson and Paresh Amin
51. Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin
52. Nick Watney and Charley Hoffman
53. Paul Haley II and Cody Gribble
54. Richy Werenski and Scott Brown
55. Ricky Barnes and Kyle Stanley
56. Robert Streb and Troy Merritt
57. Russell Knox and Brian Stuard
58. Ryan Brehm and Mark Hubbard
59. Ryan Palmer and Scott Piercy
60. Sahith Theegala and Justin Suh
61. Sam Burns and Billy Horschel
62. Sam Ryder and Doc Redman
63. Sam Saunders and Eric Cole
64. Si Woo Kim and Tom Kim
65. Sung Kang and Sangmoon Bae
66. Sungjae Im and Keith Mitchell
67. Tano Goya and Trevor Werbylo
68. Taylor Moore and Matthew NeSmith
69. Taylor Pendrith and Michael Gligic
70. Thorbjorn Olesen and Nicolai Hojgaard
71. Trevor Cone and Andrew Novak
72. Trey Mullinax and Scott Stallings
73. Tyler Duncan and Hank Lebioda
74. Tyson Alexander and Carl Yuan
75. Victor Perez and Thomas Detry
76. Wesley Bryan and Grayson Murray
77. Wyndham Clark and Beau Hossler
78. Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay
79. Zac Blair and Marty Dou
80. Zach Johnson and Steve Stricker