What Else Does Xander Schauffele Need To Do In Order To Win Player Of The Year? The World No.2 Has An Idea...

By anyone's standards, Xander Schauffele has enjoyed an extraordinarily successful season already.

The Californian triumphed in Major championships not once but twice, he bagged three runner-up finishes and ended inside the top-10 15 times in 21 starts. Not to mention, he hasn't missed a single cut and won over $18 million along the way.

Taking a look at his stats, Schauffele was second in Strokes Gained: Total, first in scrambling, and second in scoring average - all compared to 150-plus of his PGA Tour peers.

And yet, there was one pretty talented young man who - remarkably - did even better with eight titles (including Olympic gold). In any other year, Schauffele would have been a dead cert for PGA Tour Player of the Year - following in the footsteps of some of the game's greats.

However, because Scottie Scheffler is around, the World No.2 admitted this week that he feels he is actually nowhere near in with a shout of taking home the title when the award is presented in a couple of months' time.

Speaking at the Zozo Championship ahead of a first individual start since the Tour Championship, Schauffele admitted he would have to enjoy a career year to stand a chance in the future.

Asked what exactly he would have to do in order to win PGA Tour Player of the Year, Schauffele half-joked: "I mean, it seems I need to have the best year ever. I just had my best year ever and wasn't really close.

"I'm pretty content with how I played and where my game is at. If I can keep on doing what I'm doing, I'd be very pleased."

Awards aside, the 30-year-old went on to reflect on his season as a whole - one that featured a victory at both the PGA Championship and the Open Championship.

He said: "[This year] was a dream come true. Winning two majors in a season is, you know, you sort of dream of that stuff and for me to be able to do it is very special. So I will always remember 2024."

Unlikely to be a coincidence in terms of Schauffele's step to the next level, his decision to look externally for a swing coach has certainly paid off.

Prior to hiring swing coach, Chris Como late last year, the two-time Major winner was working with his dad, Stefan. And they were doing well, but Xander wasn't winning Majors.

After receiving his father's blessing to try and find someone else to help him do just that, Schauffele met with the man who has coached the likes of Tiger Woods and Bryson DeChambeau. Cut to a handful of months later - mission accomplished. Two months after that, mission accomplished once more.

Explaining the impact Como has had on his career, Schauffele admitted it was strange to hear advice from a new voice at first.

On Como, Schauffele said: "He's been tremendous. I've known Chris for maybe 10 years now, but I've only been working with Chris for pushing probably just under a year, call it a year now.

"Yeah, I mean, I trust him a lot. I have put a lot of sort of faith in what he's telling me, just believing everything he's telling me and trusting everything he's telling me.

It's a scary thing obviously, I had pretty much the same coach my whole life and to get advice from someone new and to sort of put your whole, I guess, all of my tournament trust and feels and everything that goes into sort of competing at a high level into his corner was a really big deal for myself and my team.

"Chris is an awesome individual and definitely very happy that he's part of my team."

Schauffele tees off alongside Rickie Fowler and Min Woo Lee at 10:24am local time (9:24pm ET) in round one on Thursday.