"Prob still finish top 20" – PGA Tour pro's playful take as Xander Schauffele's tee shot wedges against a tree root

Xander Schauffele had a rough start to the 2024 ZOZO Championship. The world no. 2 found himself in the trees at one point during the first round, leading to a playful remark from fellow PGA professional, Michael Kim. The first round of the fifth FedExCup Fall event concluded on Thursday, October 24 at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club in Chiba, Japan.

Schauffele carded 3-over 73 in the first round and is currently tied for 70th in a field of 78 players. He scored a quadruple bogey on the par-4 ninth. His tee shot on the ninth landed against a tree root 288 yards from the tee, leaving him 215 yards to the hole.

Because of the awkward position the ball landed in, his second and third shots didn't make much difference to its position. A video of the moment was posted by the PGA Tour on X (formerly Twitter). The post was captioned:

"Relatable. Xander Schauffele laughs off a tough break after his tee shot wedges against a tree root."

In response to the post, PGA Tour player Michael Kim wrote:

"Prob still finish top 20 after this lol"

Despite the American's struggles, Kim knows what he's talking about. In 21 starts on the PGA Tour this year, Schauffele has had 20 top-25 finishes. He hasn't missed a cut in 55 tournaments.

He took a penalty drop on the fourth shot, which placed him 217 yards away from the hole. The 30-year-old eventually holed in the eighth shot. Talking about his struggles on the ninth hole, he said (via BBC),

"I wanted to take a photo of it almost, how bad it was. For me to think I can do anything definitely got me in a hole there. I should have just taken an unplayable, but I was an idiot and tried to hit it. Then I was stubborn and tried to hit it again, then finally took an unplayable."

Xander Scahuffele scored a lone birdie in the round on the par-3 13th. Taylor Moore is placed atop the leaderboard after the first round. He carded 7-under 63.

Max Greyserman, Nico Echavarria, and Eric Cole are one shot behind Moore in a tie for second. Defending Champion Collin Morikawa is tied for 35th while former champion Hideki Matsuyama is tied for 53rd.

---

A look at Xander Schauffele's performances in 2024

Xander Schauffele has had a splendid season with two Major wins. He won the Open Championship and the PGA Championship. In 21 starts on the PGA Tour, he also had three runner-up finishes and 15 top-10 finishes.

Schauffele finished fourth in the FedExCup standings. He has made $18,355,910 this year. Let's take a look at Xander Schauffele's performances in the 2024 season:

2024 PGA TOUR Tournaments

• The Sentry: T10 (66-69-65-68, 268, -24)
• The American Express: T3 (64-69-63-65, 261, -27)
• Farmers Insurance Open: T9 (69-68-72-70, 279, -9)
• AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am: T54 (73-72-67, 212, -4)
• The Genesis Invitational: T4 (70-66-65-70, 271, -13)
• Arnold Palmer Invitational: T25 (72-70-76-70, 288, E)
• THE PLAYERS Championship: T2 (65-69-65-70, 269, -19)
• Valspar Championship: T5 (68-72-71-65, 276, -8)
• Masters Tournament: 8 (72-72-70-73, 287, -1)
• RBC Heritage: T18 (72-64-67-72, 275, -9)
• Wells Fargo Championship: 2 (64-67-70-71, 272, -12)
• PGA Championship: 1 (62-68-68-65, 263, -21)
• the Memorial Tournament: T8 (68-73-71-75, 287, -1)
• U.S. Open: T7 (70-69-72-68, 279, -1)
• Travelers Championship: T13 (65-65-64-70, 264, -16)
• Genesis Scottish Open: T15 (69-65-67-67, 268, -12)
• The Open: 1 (69-72-69-65, 275, -9)
• FedEx St. Jude Championship: T2 (66-69-67-63, 265, -15)
• BMW Championship: T5 (69-73-67-71, 280, -8)
• TOUR Championship: T4 (70-64-71-68, 273, -19)

2024 OLY Golf (M) Tournaments

• Olympic Men's Golf Competition: T9 (65-66-68-73, 272, -12)