Scottie Scheffler had an up and down round in more ways than one at the PGA Championship.
The world No.1 finished his opening round two under par — three shots off the clubhouse lead — in what was a rollercoaster Thursday.
Scheffler and Rory McIlroy both double-bogeyed the 16thCredit: Getty
Rainy weather in North Carolina led to boggy conditions at Quail Hollow and a number of players struggled with ‘mud balls.’
Scheffler was one of the victims as he found the water on the brutal 16th hole that saw the three best golfers in the world card double bogeys in the same pairing.
Partners Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele — ranked second and third, respectively — didn’t recover as well as the Texan and finished at one and three over.
Bidding to earn his first win at the tournament, Scheffler hit out at the decision not to play preferred lies, which would allow players to lift and clean their ball before placing it close to where it originally lay.
“By the way, this is going to be the last answer I give on playing up or down. I mean, I don’t make the rules,” Scheffler began, preempting what will be a major discussion point throughout the weekend.
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“When you think about the purest test of golf, I don’t personally think that hitting the ball in the middle of the fairway you should get punished for.
“On a golf course as good of conditioned as this one is, this is probably a situation in which it would be the least likely difference in playing it up because most of the lies you get out here are all really good.
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“So I understand how a golf purist would be, oh, play it as it lies.
“But I don’t think they understand what it’s like literally working your entire life to learn how to hit a golf ball and control it and hit shots and control distance, and all of a sudden due to a rules decision that is completely taken away from us by chance.
“In golf, there’s enough luck throughout a 72-hole tournament that I don’t think the story should be whether or not the ball is played up or down.
“When I look at golf tournaments, I want the purest, fairest test of golf, and in my opinion maybe the ball today should have been played up.”
Despite his frustrations over the rules, Scheffler kept his composure and bounced back.
He hit an eagle on the 15th before his double-bogey and managed three birdies to one bogey on the back nine for a solid round.
“But like I said, I don’t make the rules. I deal with what the rules decisions are,” he added.
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“I could have let that bother me today when you got a mud ball and it cost me a couple shots.
“It cost me possibly two shots on one hole, and if I let that bother me, it could cost me five shots the rest of the round.”
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It is only a year since Scheffler was infamously arrested prior to his second round at the PGA.
He was released in time to shoot five under and all charges were later dropped.
“I didn’t really feel like I would make my tee time until one of the officers at the jail came by my holding cell and knocked on the window and said, ‘Let’s go,'” the two-time major champ explained at the time.
“He said, ‘Get ready’ and motioned to start rolling up my mat. Then I poked my head at the TV and I was like, ‘Oh, might be able to get there’, we’ll see how bad the traffic is getting in and out.”
“As far as best rounds of my career, I would say it was pretty good,” he added after the round. “I definitely never imagined ever going to jail, and I definitely never imagined going to jail the morning before one of my tee times for sure!”
Scheffler’s almost robotic ability to keep his cool whatever the world throws at him is one of the reasons he is always near the top of leaderboards.
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