Xander Schauffele: Top spot on leaderboard is driving force, not inflated prize money

Whichever player emerges victorious at the upcoming Tour Championship will also claim the FedEx Cup title, along with a whopping $25 million in combined earnings.

In the era of LIV Golf and its massive payouts, professional male golfers like Xander Schauffele, currently ranked No. 2 in the world, no longer have to worry about financial stability for themselves and their families.

However, for Schauffele, the desire to reach the top spot in the rankings is a greater driving force at this point in his career.

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Despite his impressive performances this year, including winning two major championships, Schauffele's ascent to No. 1 is unlikely to happen anytime soon due to Scottie Scheffler's dominant lead in the Official World Golf Ranking points system.

\"Becoming No. 1 in the world? It's a major goal of mine,\" Schauffele stated, \"and while I've been told that Scottie's lead is an outlier and I would be No. 1 in most other situations, that's just not good enough for me.\"

Schauffele continued to praise Scheffler, who has had a stellar season, including winning an Olympic gold medal and six PGA Tour events.

The two Americans were once again paired together for the first two rounds of the BMW Championship, the second leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs. When asked if he gets caught up in the competition between them, Schauffele emphasized the importance of focusing on one's own game and not getting too emotional about external factors.

Schauffele also had some criticisms for how the media has covered the increase in golf purses, both in LIV Golf and the PGA Tour.

\"The media's coverage of the increase in purses has been interesting to me over the past few years,\" he stated. \"There's a lot of talk about money, and the news I read is often negative. Golf seems to be painted in a negative light, but I think that's just because people like to hate on things these days.\"

He also pointed out the discrepancy in how other sports handle discussions about money, with players in other sports often receiving praise for their high earnings, while golfers are often criticized for it.

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Schauffele acknowledged that Scheffler's earnings of $29.1 million this season are well-deserved, as he has been consistently outperforming the competition. He also compared it to other sports, where the top players often make significantly more than those ranked lower.