Rory McIlroy and Tom McKibbin struggle amid equipment issue as Scottie Scheffler puts on a show in Charlotte

Irish Independent

18-05-2025

The Masters champion did not play well in 25 mph gusts but he was also spared unnecessary questions about his equipment problems at Quail Hollow this week.
He had just made the cut on the mark on Friday when news emerged via ESPN that he'd been asked to change the head on his driver after it was discovered to be non conforming on Tuesday.
This is a normal occurrence, as the governing bodies carry out regular tests on drivers that can stray over the accepted limits for the trampoline effect.
Results are confidential, however, and after McIlroy was named publicly, the PGA of America felt the need to issue a statement yesterday making the point that neither they, nor the USGA, had no concerns about player 'intent'.
'The standard process is for about a third of the field to be randomly tested under the programme,' the PGA of America's Chief Championships Officer Kerry Haigh said.
'That was the case at Quail Hollow this week.
'Finding driver heads that have crept over the line of conformance is not an unusual occurrence, especially for clubs that are hit thousands of times over a long period of time.
'The results are kept confidential to protect players, who are unaware the club has fallen out of conformance and not responsible for it falling out of conformance other than hitting the club thousands of times.
'Players are simply asked to change heads if necessary, and all do without issue. To publicly identify players whose club did not conform can lead to that player being questioned unnecessarily.
'Neither the USGA nor the PGA of America have any concerns about player intent.'
Confidentiality became a talking point in The Open at Royal Portrush in 2019, when it was leaked that Xander Schauffele had been asked to change his driver head for non conformance.
He blamed the R&A for attempting 'to ruin my image by not keeping this matter private,' but later found out the leak came from elsewhere.
McIlroy addressed the same issue in 2023 when he changed driver at the Genesis Invitational because he suspected it was close to the limit.
'They were testing drivers at Riviera, but I just didn't even want to take the chance,' McIlroy later explained at Sawgrass.
'I just was not comfortable knowing that it could feel - doesn't look good on me, doesn't look good on TaylorMade.'
McIlroy drove the ball better in yesterday's third round but he's ranked 45th for strokes gained off the tee and 70th of 74 for accuracy heading into the final round.
Denied the chance to play early in windless conditions because of a three and a half hour weather delay, he drove out of bounds right at the 15th (his sixth) and fired another drive into a lake right at the seventh as he mixed two birdies with three bogeys in a one-over 72.
He's tied for 49th on two-over-par with fellow Holywood man Tom McKibbin, who had a disappointing day on the greens and played his back nine in three over to card a 74.
Like McIlroy, McKibbin was in no mood to chat afterwards on a spectacular day for the galleries as some big names rose to the top of the leaderboard.
Jon Rahm carded a four-under 67 to take the clubhouse lead on six-under but ended the day tied for fifth with Si Woo Kim (71) and overnight leader Jonny Vegas (73), five shots behind a hugely impressive Scheffler.
It looked for a while that Bryson DeChambeau would take the 54-hole lead when he hit the front on eight-under after five birdies in his first 15 holes.
But he bogeyed the 16th and double-bogeyed the 17th to shoot 69 and find himself six behind Scheffler in a five-way-tie for eighth with Keegan Bradley, Tony Finau, Mattieu Pavon and Matt Fitzpatrick on five-under.
Scheffler was one under for his round after 13 holes before he played his last five in five-under.
He hit a three wood to three feet at the 14th to set up an eagle two, then birdied the par-five 15th before playing the finishing, three-hole 'Green Mile' stretch in two-under, making18 footers for birdies at the 17th and 18th.
His six-under 65 gave him a three shot lead over Sweden's Alex Noren (42), who birdied four of the last five holes for a 66 in just his second start after seven months out with a hamstring injury.
Scheffler is expecting the field to come after him but he's looking forward to trying to win his third major.
'It would mean a lot,' Scheffler said. 'You know, these tournaments are very important to us, and you work your whole life to have a chance to win major tournaments, any tournament for that matter.
'And tomorrow I have a good opportunity to go out there and try and win the golf tournament. But it's going to take another really good round.'
The unheralded Davis Riley (67) and JT Poston (68) share third place, four shots behind Scheffler on seven-under.