Xander Schauffele’s short-game range, from green to bunker

SportLocation Golf Desk · 10 Oct 2026

A highlights reel attributed to Xander Schauffele contrasts the touch demanded on the green with a bunker shot over the lip.

Xander Schauffele’s short-game highlights move between two very different problems: a ball on the putting surface and a shot addressed from sand. The contrast is the point. One asks for touch across the green; the other calls for a clean strike that gets the ball up and out.

The reel cuts between those course moments rather than following one continuous hole. In the bunker, Schauffele sets up with the green and flag beyond him; on the putting surface, the ball sits close to the cup. Each scene turns on controlling the ball’s path and pace, with little room for a careless strike.

It is a neat snapshot of short-game craft: choosing the strike to suit the lie, then judging the distance to the target.