No.1 Scottie Scheffler and No.3 Xander Schauffele blast PGA over "mud balls"

Japan Times

16-05-2025

Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler and defending champion Xander Schauffele blasted the rules preventing players from cleaning balls that land on the fairway at rain-soaked Quail Hollow after struggling through their opening rounds at the PGA Championship on Thursday.
Playing in the marquee group featuring the world's top three players, Scheffler battled to a 2-under par 69, third-ranked Schauffele fired a 72 and second-ranked Rory McIlroy shot a 74 in his first round at a major since 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 the five inches of rain dumped on the course in recent days.
So when mud stuck to the balls of Scheffler and Schauffele in the fairway at the par-4 16th hole, and each man's approach found a watery grave on the way to double bogey, they were unhappy.
"Had a ridiculous mud ball there on 16 with Scottie," Schauffele said. "We were in the middle of the fairway, and we had to aim right of the grandstands.
"I aimed right of the bunker, and it whipped in the water, and Scottie whipped it in the water as well.
"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 by the preferred lies decision, suffered his first career bogey in the first round of 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.
Schauffele, the reigning British Open and PGA champion, had dire predictions for the next three days.
"The mud balls are going to get worse as the place dries up," Schauffele said. "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," Schauffele said. "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.
"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 1-under and probably would have been a decent start to the tournament."
Scheffler noted differences between links golf and U.S. courses, saying U.S. 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."