Exclusive: Xander Schauffele makes TGL admission as New York GC reach final

Xander Schauffele didn't know how Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy's TGL was going to be received at first. 

The World No.3 wasn't sure how he would cope under the lights with music pumping inside the SoFi Center that holds 1,500 ardent PGA Tour fans. 

But as evidenced by his New York GC upset win over Los Angeles Golf Club in the league's first semi-final on Monday night, Schauffele, who is still recovering from a troubling rib injury, has managed to find his groove.

Despite some indifferent performances on the PGA Tour the past two weeks with a T40 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and a solo 72nd at The Players Championship, the two-time major champion has held his nerve to lead NYGC to a first TGL final. 

"Yeah, it was nice to see some balls go straight," Schauffele joked after NYGC's clutch 6-4 victory over LAGC. 

Schauffele, 31, ended his week at The Players Championship with shocking rounds of 77 and 81 to finish dead last of those that made the cut on 13-over par.

He very much sounded the alarm bells prior to his horror weekend at TPC Sawgrass. "It's pretty gross, to be completely honest," Schauffele said of his current game. 

But the nine-time PGA Tour winner has looked much more himself in the safe confines of TGL's fluttering lights and giant screens alongside his teammates Rickie Fowler, Matt Fitzpatrick and Cameron Young. 

Schauffele drained a clutch birdie putt on the 8th hole to break an early tie when LAGC captain Collin Morikawa missed before him.

It put NYGC firmly in the driving seat and they did not look back. 

Things got tight towards the end of the match but Tommy Fleetwood missed a five-footer on the last hole of the night and that ultimately proved a season-ender for LAGC.

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Schauffele's NYGC will now face the winner of the second semi-final between The Bay GC and Atlanta Drive GC on 18 March. 

A best-of-three championship series final then awaits for TGL's top two teams next week. 

Speaking to GolfMagic during last week's Arnold Palmer Invitational, Schauffele told us TGL has very much surprised him. 

"It's exceeded my expectations," Schauffele told GolfMagic at Bay Hill. 

"It's something different. It's the first of its kind. 

"You just don't really know what's going to happen. You go in there and it takes your breath away just because you've got this 200 foot screen you're hitting into. Then you've got two 200 foot screens on the side and then you've got greens rotating and changing.”

Schauffele added: “It’s a breath of fresh air in the golf world. 

"You’ve got teammates, which is different. 

"Then you have music blaring almost the whole time, it's a spectacle. 

"It's cool to watch on TV. I've played in it and I've gone in person to spectate and watch my team play, and to me it was cool all three different ways."

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