Schauffele: Rory McIlroy in 'tough spot' due to intense microscope

As someone who has held the unofficial title of "best player yet to win a major," Xander Schauffele can empathize with Rory McIlroy's decision not to compete at this week's Travelers Championship.

On the heels of missing a pair of short putts over the final three holes on Sunday to finish second by a stroke to Bryson DeChambeau at the U.S. Open, McIlroy left Pinehurst No. 2 without speaking to reporters and announced the following day that he will not play again until next month's Scottish Open.

McIlroy's decade-long major drought will endure at least until at The Open Championship in July. Meanwhile, Schauffele is still riding the high of his first major title triumph at last month's PGA Championship. Until surviving DeChambeau by a stroke at Valhalla Golf Club, Schauffele had a reputation for struggling to close on final-round leads.

"As a competitor, all of us have had our highs and lows to a certain degree. It's a tough spot," Schauffele said when asked Tuesday how much empathy he has for McIlroy's current situation. "I'm sure him and his team are discussing what happened and sometimes you just need to step away from it all and really try and be as objective as possible, because you're very much in the moment there and it obviously didn't go his way and he's just, you know, he needs some time away to figure out what's going on."

McIlroy has been criticized for bolting Pinehurst and returning home without speaking with reporters after Sunday's final round. He issued a statement on Monday congratulating DeChambeau and announcing that he will be taking a break from golf for a few weeks.

The Northern Irishman acknowledged that it was "probably the toughest" day of his professional career, but vowed to show resilience when he