The Players: Xander Schauffele in “bath of misery” after coughing up the win

Xander Schauffele came close to taking home The Players Championship on Sunday but came up short yet again.

Schauffele signed for a 2-under 70 on Sunday to fall one shot short of Scottie Scheffler. He and Wyndham Clark watched the former Texas Longhorn zoom past them while they stayed in neutral.

It’s not like he played terrible golf Sunday, but he couldn’t convert when he needed it the most.

Schauffele made back-to-back bogeys at 14 and 15, which dropped him out of the lead. But it was his birdie putt on 17 that will haunt him.

After hitting one of the best tee shots on the island green all day, he narrowly missed below the hole.

Clark felt the same pain as he had a heartbreaking lip-out to tie Scheffler on 18.

“I’m sure we’re bathing in a similar bath of misery,” Schauffele said of Clark.

All that stood in his way from a victory or potential playoff were the daunting 16th, 17th, and 18th holes of TPC Sawgrass. He conquered the par-5 16th, making birdie, returning to 19-under and within a shot of Scheffler.

However, two pars to close out his round were not enough.

Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images

“It’s not too crazy, as weird as that sounds, you’re trying to win a golf tournament,” Schauffele explained. “I tell myself all the time, if you’re trying to win you’ve got to walk through the fire, and if you’re able to walk through unscathed, then you’re going to win the tournament.”

He had a realistic chance at winning The Players. Instead, he will have to listen to the haters chirp about his 13th career runner-up finish.

“I’m going to lick my wounds,” he said. “I’ll probably join them in the Haterade at this moment, but it is what it is. These suck. When I went to bed last night, it’s not exactly how I envisioned walking off the 18th green.”

It was another letdown for Schauffele as he remains on the hunt for his 8th PGA Tour victory.

Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, be sure to follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.