When Xander Schauffele was a kid, his dad would have him hit balls barefoot and with his eyes closed.
Situations like that don’t really occur on the PGA Tour for the seven-time winner, but when a business partner approached Schauffele about a unique challenge, he had to say yes out of nostalgia.
Schauffele teamed up with Hyland – his exclusive software partner that works with half the Fortune 100 – to take part in the Hyland X Vision Challenge. The concept was simple in description but difficult in action: play a par-3 blindfolded twice, once with absolutely no help (other than the yardage) and once with assistance. Joined by his father, Stefan, and caddie Austin Kaiser, Schauffele made a comical effort on the first try and then nearly made an ace with his second.
“It was hard. It was really hard. It was very hard alone, unassisted, as you saw, but lots of fun,” Schauffele told Golfweek. “Lot of trust issues and then once it was assisted with Austin and my dad, the teamwork made the dream work there for sure.”
When @Hyland heard I practiced blindfolded as a kid, they challenged me to give it another shot. Together, we proved you can take away my vision, but my team is my ace in the hole. Watch the Hyland X Vision Challenge now. pic.twitter.com/CetFwcQx44
— Xander Schauffele (@XSchauffele) February 1, 2023
“I’m pretty confident. The dizzy part they didn’t tell me,” he explained with a laugh. “If you put me in front of a hole and you put a blindfold down, I can kind of know in space where things are. As soon as you start ripping me in a circle and I don’t know where anything is in space, I was pretty confident until they started doing that stuff.”
“It was fun. I wouldn’t want to do like nine or 18 holes of it, but I think it’d be a pretty funny challenge to do with the boys,” said Schauffele, who noted other Tour players would probably fare similar to him. “Obviously away from houses and things of that nature.”
The blindfold will be off next week as Schauffele, now ranked No. 6 in the world, returns to PGA Tour action at the WM Phoenix Open to continue his solid start to the 2022-23 season. Aside from a WD at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, Schauffele has finished T-9 at the Zozo Championship, T-3 at the American Express and T-13 at last week’s Farmers Insurance Open.
“I’m probably doing a little bit better than I normally have in years past,” said Schauffele compared to his previous slower starts. “I’d say this these next couple of events are pretty important for me, it’s usually where I get the ball rolling.
“My caddie and team always tells me I’m a summer soldier, get me into the summer and we’ll do good things,” Schauffele explained. “I like to rely on my team a lot and I’ve mocked them in the past for saying that, they’ve looked what happened last summer (referencing three wins over seven events). They seem to be right on a lot of stuff.”
Just like he said, teamwork makes the dream work.