Charlotte (AFP) – Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler and defending champion Xander Schauffele blasted PGA Championship rules preventing players from cleaning balls that land on the fairway at rain-soaked Quail Hollow on Thursday after struggling through their opening rounds. In the feature group of the world’s three top-ranked players, Scheffler battled to a two-under par 69, third-ranked Schauffele fired a 72, and second-ranked Rory McIlroy shot a 74 in his first major round after winning last month’s Masters.
The PGA of America said Wednesday it would not use preferred lies to allow players to lift, clean, and place balls despite five inches of rain dumped on the course in recent days. So when mud adhered to the balls of Scheffler and Schauffele in the fairway at the par-four 16th hole and each man’s approach found a watery grave on the way to double bogey, they were unhappy.
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“Had a ridiculous mud ball there on 16 with Scottie. We were in the middle of the fairway and we had to aim right of the grandstands,” said Schauffele. “I aimed right of the bunker and it whipped in the water and Scottie whipped it in the water as well,” Schauffele added. “A lot of guys are dealing with it, but it’s just unfortunate to be hitting good shots and to pay them off that way. It’s kind of stupid.”
Scheffler, who said he was not surprised at the preferred lies decision, suffered his first career bogey in the first round at a major. “It’s frustrating to hit the ball in the middle of the fairway and get mud on it and have no idea where it’s going to go,” Scheffler said. “I understand it’s part of the game, but there’s nothing more frustrating for a player — you spend your whole life trying to learn how to control a golf ball — and due to a rules decision all of a sudden you have absolutely no control over where that golf ball goes. But I don’t make the rules. I just have to deal with the consequences of those rules. I did a good job of battling back and not letting a bad break like that, which cost me a couple shots, get to me.”
McIlroy, who never found the 16th fairway, made double bogey as well.
– ‘Going to get worse’ –
Reigning British Open and PGA champion Schauffele had dire predictions for the next three days. “The mud balls are going to get worse as the place dries up,” said Schauffele. “They’re going to get in that ‘perfect cake zone’ to where it’s kind of muddy underneath and then picking up mud on the way through.” Scheffler agreed, saying, “It’s going to be tough for those fairways to firm up too much with the amount of rain we got.”
Schauffele said they were far from the only golfers mad about the mud. “All of us. I’m not the only guy. I’m just in front of the camera. I wouldn’t want to go in the locker room because I’m sure a lot of guys aren’t super happy with the conditions there,” Schauffele said. “It sucks that you’re kind of 50/50 once you hit the fairway. It wasn’t just one hole either. I got lucky three or four holes in a row where it ended up sort of on the top of my ball and then you’re kind of guessing how much spin it’s going to take off,” Schauffele said. “Besides that shot on 16, if I take that away, was able to hit the green and two-putt, I shot one-under and probably would have been a decent start to the tournament.”
Scheffler noted differences between links golf and US courses, saying US fairways get more mud balls because of the turf. “There’s going to be a lot of mud on the ball and that’s just part of it,” he said. “I don’t think hitting the ball in the middle of the fairway you should get punished. In my opinion, maybe the ball today should have been played up.”
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