Xander Schauffele explains surprising Ryder Cup prep after missing out on PGA Tour's season finale

Xander Schauffele says he plans to 'not touch a golf club for a while' after he missed out on a spot at the Tour Championship. 

The PGA Tour star has had an underwhelming season by his lofty standards, failing to challenge for another major title and not stepping into the winner's circle at all. 

Schauffele's season was derailed with a rib injury and he never truly rediscovered the form that saw him lift a Claret Jug and a Wanamaker Trophy last summer. 

The 31-year-old produced a lethargic finish to the BMW Championship in Maryland and, for the first time in his career, will not tee it up at East Lake. 

He told reporters he is 'mentally tapped' right now and the only positive he could think of was the fact that there are no signs of a recurring injury.

"I feel like I just need to sort of reset a little bit, cool off a little bit, and just get back to a healthy mental place where I want to sit down and work really hard again," he said. 

"Right now I'm mentally a little tapped."

Schauffele said his dip in form is not through a lack of effort.

He said: "Everyone out here is trying really hard. There's nothing worse than trying your hardest and playing like a--. It's the worst combo. 

"Some of us do it, some of us don't. It's been a while since I have, and I did it for a few weeks now, and it sucked.

"It's going to be nice to sit back and be at home and away from golf."

Schauffele has the Ryder Cup next month to look forward to. 

He will also participate in the Procore Championship before the biennial dust-up at Bethpage Black in a tune-up event for Team USA.

Several members of Zach Johnson's losing side in 2023 admitted they were far too rusty before the matches in Rome. 

But Schauffele won't touch a club for a while. 

"Just not golfing," Schauffele said when asked what a re-set looks like for him.

"Pretty simple, yeah. Not golfing, trying not to think about golf. Just hang out at home with my wife and my dogs. Yeah, don't even look at the clubs."

Xander Schauffele makes big equipment switch

Schauffele also made a rare putter change for the final round of the BMW Championship. 

Since making his PGA Tour debut, Schauffele has been widely regarded as one of the best putters in the world. 

But this season, he is ranked a lowly 131st on the greens. 

It led to Schauffele deciding to swap out his familiar Toulon Design Las Vegas Prototype 7CH for a Odyssey Toulon Le Mans Tour on Sunday.

He rolled in some nice putts, but it's still far too soon to say if he will make the change permanent. 

Schauffele only made the switch because he knew there was practically zero chance he would make it to East Lake. 

"It didn't matter," Schauffele said. "I could have shot 59 and not gotten to next week. 

"Pretty depressing to think of it like that, but that's how I thought when I woke up.

"So I figured might as well have something different to look at and scare my old putter into working again at some point."