Xander Schauffele believes his experience as the Open Championship's defending champion gives him an "edge" if he can get himself into contention.
Schauffele won two majors last year, clinching his maiden title at the PGA Championship before following it up with a stunning win at Royal Troon, where he made a late surge through the field to claim the Claret Jug.
After that triumph, Schauffele is bidding to become the first player since Padraig Harrington (2007, 2008) to win back-to-back Open Championships.
Only six American golfers have achieved this feat: Bobby Jones, Walter Hagen, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Tom Watson and Tiger Woods.
However, Schauffele suffered a rib injury in December that restricted him to just one appearance at the start of 2025, and he has found it difficult to hit the heights of last season.
In the previous three majors this year, he finished joint-eighth at the Masters, joint-28th at the PGA Championship after a disappointing title defence and tied for 12th at the U.S. Open.
Schauffele has struggled to build any rhythm so far, with his T8 finish at the Scottish Open just his second top-10 all season, but he believes he will be hard to stop if he works his way into contention.
"Coming here, I feel like I'm trying to relearn this golf course, get comfortable with certain sight lines, some blind tee shots," he said.
"If I can get myself in the mix is when I think I would have an advantage. That's where my biggest edge would be.
"I can lean on experience at other points in time, but I think the most fun and the biggest advantage I would have is coming down the stretch if I can get close to that lead."
Schauffele handed the Claret Jug back on Monday, but he does not intend to be apart from it for too long.
"It is a bummer to give up the trophy, I want to get it back," he said.
"I was close at the Scottish Open last week. I had a better understanding of what I was doing when I hit bad shots, so that was helpful.
"There were a couple of days where it was windy, and it helped me shape the ball, so that was good. I don't think it was easy to learn links golf. I am still learning a lot.
"Even last week to this week is different. I am learning about how the ball reacts on different grass, whether it will jump or not.
"Links golf is a mentality, it comes with weather, and when there is bad weather, you need to have a good attitude."
