The New Year is a time for reflection. Especially for pro golfers, who kick off their 2025 at this week’s season-opening Sentry at Kapalua in Maui.
In fact, Xander Schauffele, the top-ranked man in the field, reflected on his 2024 statistics when he met with the media on Tuesday.
“My wedge play sucked,” he said. “It was really bad. Really, really bad. Golf is tough.”
Those were Schauffele’s words — not ours — but we will add context. Schauffele ranked sixth in SG: Approach the Green (.678) last season, but a deeper dive reiterates his point. From 200 yards out he ranked 5th in SG: Approach, but as he got closer to the hole his ranking started to creep the opposite way. He ranked between 45th and 70th in the three categories from 125 to 200 yards, but from 50 to 125 yards — prime wedge territory — he was 171st, averaging 21 feet, 5 inches from the hole.
More specifically, he was 168th from 100-125 yards, 100th from 75-100 yards and 155th from 50-75 yards.
“With my club pitched a little bit more vertical in my back swing it’s not catering to the best — it’s great for driver, great for long irons, the stats show that — then, with wedges it’s, you know, the club’s moving around a little bit, it’s not ideal for hitting like a distance wedge,” he said. “It’s something I’m trying to work on, still working on it now, still trying to figure it out, get the right feel for it.
“When my shoulders were a lot flatter, the club was way more laid off and shut, and I was more rotational,” he continued. “I was a really, really good wedge player, really good inside 150. And then the club is moving a different way, up more even across, and now all of a sudden I can, you know, smoke my driver and a 4-iron, but all of a sudden, like a 90-yard wedge is a little bit, at times. So just trying to figure that out.”
To be fair, Schauffele’s OK with the tradeoff. He ranked 10th in SG: Off the Tee and was 2nd in SG: Total (not to mention 12th in SG: Putting). That formula helped him to 15 top 10s and his first two major titles.
“It seemed to work for me fine last year, so I’m working through it,” Schauffele said. “If I can find something in the middle I will, but maybe I just need to practice my wedges a lot more.”
As the No. 2 player in the world, he’s only chasing Scottie Scheffler, who had to withdraw from this week’s tournament due to injury. Scheffler’s ball-striking prowess has been well-documented. Last season he ranked 1st in SG: Total, 2nd off the tee and 1st in approach (and 77th putting).
From 50 to 125 yards — where Schauffele ranked 171st — Scheffler was 1st, with an average distance of 13 feet, 9 inches, more than seven feet better than Schuaffele.
