Schauffele is hoping for return of 'perfect storm'

DEFENDING Open champion Xander Schauffele admits it was humbling to see the “perfect storm”, which brought him two majors in three months last summer, disappear.

- By CARL MARKHAM

A year ago the 31-year-old added the Claret Jug to his US PGA title in a stellar season, which also brought 13 other top-ten finishes.

However, a rib injury in December restricted him to just one appearance in the first three months of this year and any hope he had of continuing his momentum was lost.

“Going from on top of the moon to, you know, knocked off completely, it's a humbling thing, for sure,” said Schauffele at Royal Portrush. “Winning my first major, getting the monkey off my back, came at a perfect time - if you want to, call it a perfect storm.

“Feeling completely free and playing unbelievable golf, it’s a pretty dangerous thing so I felt like I was riding that wave.

“So I'm just trying to piece my way back, gain a little bit of confidence each and every week with each and every shot, to be honest.”

His confidence received a boost with only his second top-ten finish in 12 events at last week's Scottish Open.