Live from the Valspar Saturday: Following Xander Schauffele’s Group
Xander Schauffele hits from the second tee during the final round of The Players Championship golf tournament, Sunday, March 15, 2026, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Today I will be following the back-9 of Xander Schauffele and Chandler Phillips.
Xander Schauffele is coming off a solo 3rd finish at The Players Championship and looking to continue building momentum. In his press conference on Tuesday, he talked about needing to make more putts this week. That should be something that is a bit easier at Innisbrook, as their greens play a bit easier than those at TPC Sawgrass and Bay Hill. Xander is currently 7th in the Official World Golf Rankings and looking to make a jump at a place where his worst finish is T12. He is coming off a first day where he shot -3 and sat 4 off the lead at the end of the day. With the leaders currently at -8, he has some work to do, but doesn’t feel far off. It was more of the same for Xander yesterday as he just couldn’t get the putter hot. After a Friday that started strong but ended poorly, Schauffele will look to put himself in striking position on moving day.
Chandler Phillips is currently ranked 176th in the Official World Golf Rankings. He is also currently ranked 105th in the FedEx Cup standings. He has played in 6 events during the 2026 PGA season and made the cut at 4 of the 6. After starting his season off strong with a T19 at the Sony Open in Hawaii, he has struggled a bit. His highest finish since the Sony Open has been a T63. However, after making the weekend at the Valspar, he is hoping to improve his FedEx Cup standing and his OWGR ranking.
