“Just a cover?”: Insiders decode Xander Schauffele's injury amid swirling rumors of alleged exit from Tiger Woods' TGL

Xander Schauffele is still recovering from an injury and hasn't played professional golf since his first TGL game. However, the YouTube channel Fried Egg put out an episode of The Shotgun Start podcast discussing the rumors of Xander Schauffele 'quietly quitting' Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy's golf league.

One of the members, Brendan Porath, asked his colleagues Andy Johnson and PJ Clark if Xander Schauffele's injury was just a cover.

"Is there a world where Xander's injury is just a cover?," Brendan questioned [51:39 onwards].

"No no, he wouldn't do that to Steve Cohen," Andy said.

For context, Steve Cohen happens to be the owner of the New York Golf Club, Xander Schauffele's team.

"They're rumblings," Brendan said.

"I mean you really have to not like a thing to skip your home event, two Signature Events, Pebble Beach. You have to really hate doing TGL right? He's not injured he just wants to stay injured so he doesn't have to; wait out TGL until the end of March," Brendan mentioned.

Brendan then read a comment from the YouTube chat that said, 'Xander quite quit TGL'. He continued:

"Just rumbling. I don't think he's a big fan. I don't. But New York just left to dangle with Ricky (Fowler), Cam (Young), and who's their third guy."

"Fitzpatrick," PJ answered.

"Yeah I don't know maybe Xander's in the lineup this week," Brendan said.

PJ instantly answered, no, he is not, as Brendan believed it would be kind of "nuts" if he was in the lineup for New York Golf Club's upcoming game. While no concrete details are available, the World No. 2 has been hitting balls as per Golfweek. Although he confessed to not feeling comfortable playing four consecutive rounds "without feeling rushed," after initially overlooking his injury at the Sentry and the opening round of TGL, Schauffele estimated that he will be able to compete at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando on March 6.

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2025 TGL schedule and remaining fixtures

New York Golf Club players during JUP v NY game - Source: Getty

The 2025 TGL has got off to a decent start, and after three matches of all six teams, The Bay Golf Club is leading the standings. Los Angeles Golf Club is placed second, while Atlanta Drive GC and New York Golf Club are placed third and fourth, respectively.

Moreover, Jupiter Golf Links and Boston Common Golf, the teams that have the league founders, are the bottom two ranked teams after three games.

Here are the remaining games from the TGL.

Monday, Feb 24

• 5:00 PM EST – LA (2-0-1) vs. NY (1-2-0)
• 9:00 PM EST – BOS (0-2-1) vs. ATL (2-1-0)

Tuesday, Feb 25

• 9:00 PM EST – BAY (3-0-0) vs. JUP (1-2-0)

Monday, Mar 3

• 3:00 PM EST – BAY (3-0-0) vs. LA (2-0-1)
• 7:00 PM EST – NY (1-2-0) vs. BOS (0-2-1)

Tuesday, Mar 4

• 7:00 PM EST – JUP (1-2-0) vs. ATL (2-1-0)

Playoffs

The top four teams in the SoFi Cup Standings reach the postseason.

Semifinals

• Monday, March 17, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN2
• Tuesday, March 18, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN

Finals Series

• Match 1: Monday, March 24, 9 p.m. ET, ESPN2
• Match 2: Tuesday, March 25, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN
• Match 3 (if necessary): Tuesday, March 25, 9 p.m. ET, ESPN