“It spun up like crazy,” Xander Schauffele said as he just hit the ball out of the rough, as caught by the on-course mics.
What makes this interesting to me is that he said this as the ball was not even at its apex. As amateur golfers, we tend to focus on the results and are a bit mystified by the actual process that led to it.
How many of us can feel what Schauffele was describing? Few, I’d guess. We’d see where the ball landed and then decide whether it was a good swing or not. It highlights the technical skill that the best in the world have, regardless of how good the equipment is.
Schauffele probably was hoping the ball would not have as much spin and roll through the green instead of landing where it did, on the front edge with a back pin placement.
He was surely happy it didn’t have too much spin and roll off the green entirely. Instead he was able to two-putt and record a par on the 16th.
