Schauffele tackles the question: Can he beat McIlroy at PGA in Charlotte?

Xander Schauffele almost certainly knew the question was coming.

He was speaking Monday with media members about his role as defending champion in the PGA Championship, which will be played May 15-18 at the Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte.

“I’m finally in a place where I feel as if my golf is up there with the best in the world,” said Schauffele, 31, who captured both the PGA and U.S. Open titles last year but was sidelined early this season with a rib injury.

But is it good enough to beat the golfer who has dominated the Quail Hollow Club — Rory McIlroy, a four-time winner of the Wells Fargo Championship, played at Quail Hollow?

“It feels like he’s gotten the best of me every time,” Schauffele said of his showdowns with McIlroy.

One of those showdowns came last May, in the 2024 Wells Fargo event.

Schauffele entered the final round at Quail Hollow with a one-stroke lead over McIlroy, trying to become the first player ever to lead the Charlotte event from wire-to-wire.

The two played nearly even through nine holes, but McIlroy surged in the final nine and won by five shots.

“It felt like he birdied every hole on the back nine,” Schauffele said Monday. “He’s accomplished the Grand Slam. He’ll go down as one of the greats in the game.”

He said he can’t concentrate on the competition, though.

“I have to play better,” he said. “And I think I’m in a place where I can do that.”

After being sidelined early this season, Schauffele returned to regular play in March and earned a eighth-place tie in the Masters, the same tournament where McIlroy completed his career Grand Slam with a victory.

“Since the Players (Championship, in March), I’ve played better,” said Schauffele, who has won nine times on the PGA Tour. “I think my confidence is slowly building. I’ve finished second twice at Quail Hollow, but I’ve played well there.”

In a way, Schauffele said, Quail Hollow is a good match for his game.

“You have to stay inbounds there,” he said. “Maybe that’s why I do OK, because I tend to keep my ball in play.

“There’s sneaky trouble lurking at Quail Hollow. Some of the holes are wide-open, but there are big trees. You can get in trouble.”

Schauffele also said the “overall length” and “speed of the greens” make the Quail Hollow a good place for a major event like the PGA Championship.

“Even our regular tournament stop there feels like a major,” he said. “The large practice facility, the way the event is handled — it feels like a major.”

Schauffele, a San Diego native who started playing golf at age 9 and is the great-grandson of two former European professional soccer players, turned in a memorable performance in last year’s PGA Championship.

He led after all four rounds at the Valhalla Golf Club, including being tied with Colin Morikawa entering the final round. Schauffele shot a course-record 62 in the first round, and his 72-hole score of 21-under-par set a record for any major event.

But he needed a birdie on the 570-yard par-5 18th hole to edge Bryson DeChambeau by one shot.

Schauffele’s memorable second shot — with the ball in the fairway but Schauffele’s feet in an adjoining bunker — landed just off the green. Schauffele chipped within a few feet of the hole and sank the putt for the victory.

“On that second shot, I remember thinking to myself, ‘Don’t hit it off the toe (of the club),” he recalled. “Luckily, I hit it on the center of the face.”

“I always smile, thinking back on that 2024 at Valhalla,” he added.

This story was originally published April 22, 2025 at 6:00 AM.