Scottie Scheffler SOUNDS off on Controversial Rule During 2025 PGA Championship

Scottie Scheffler was unhappy with a PGA Tour rule and sounded off on it following a 2-under par score in the opening round.

Scottie Scheffler SOUNDS off on Controversial Rule During 2025 PGA Championship

Scottie Scheffler (Image via Imago)

World No.1 Scottie Scheffler was not in a good mood at the end of Round 1 of the 2025 PGA Championship at the Quail Hollow course. He sounded off on the controversial mud ball rules and expressed his dissatisfaction regarding it.

First of all, what is the mud ball rule? As the name suggests, this term is given to a ball when mud gets stuck on it. The golf balls usually get covered in mud and get wet during some bad weather.

While it may not seem huge at first, mud balls play a huge part in the game. The trajectory of the balls changes dramatically when it is covered in mud or wet. It becomes hard for players to predict where their shots would go.

Earlier this week, the PGA Championship announced that it would not be playing the “preferred lies” in the fairway. Players are allowed to clean the mud off their balls and place them back in the fairway within a club length of their original shot under the “preferred lies” rules.

In the first two rounds, Scheffler has been paired up with World No.2 Rory McIlroy and World No.3 Xander Schauffele. The top three golfers struggled at the par-4 16th hole and they all made double bogeys.

Following the round, the World No.1 sounded off on this controversial rule. In the press conference, Scheffler expressed that it was ‘frustrating‘ to deal with this.

It’s one of those deals where 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. 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.

Scheffler eventually bounced back later on. He finished the day 2-under par and was T20 on the leaderboard alongside several others.

Xander Schauffele joins Scottie Scheffler in slamming mud balls rules

Scottie Scheffler was not the only one who had some trouble with the mud balls in the opening round on Thursday. Both of his playing partners Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele also struggled on the 16th hole. Following the round, Schauffele joined Scheffler in slamming the mud balls rules.

Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele
Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele (Image via CNN)

The World No.3 entered this event on Thursday as the defending champion. While being even par through the first 6 holes, Schauffele also made a double bogey due to a mud ball on the 16th. This saw his score above par.

In the presser after the round, the 2-time major champion claimed it was “kind of stupid” to get that result after some great shots.

Had a ridiculous mud ball there on 16 with Scottie. I aimed right of the bunker and it whipped in the water and Scottie whipped it in the water, as well… It’s just unfortunate to be hitting good shots and to pay them off that way. It’s kind of stupid.

Schauffele was unable to go below par score after that mud ball situation. He made 9 straight pars before making a birdie on the 8th hole. He proceeded to end the day with another par on the final hole and finished 1-over par while being T60th after the first round.

How is the PGA Championship shaping up after Round 1?

The first round of the 2025 PGA Championship saw several ups and downs. While the big names of the tour struggled to make a huge mark, the lesser known names came firing out at the Quail Hollow Course.

Xander Schauffele
Xander Schauffele is the defending champion (Image via PGA Tour)

Venezuelan golfer Jhonattan Vegas scripted history with his opening round score of 64. He became the first Venezuela-born golfer to lead the any round of a major championship. The 4-time PGA Tour winner ended the day with a 2-stroke lead over Ryan Gerard and Cam Davis, who both fired scores of 66.

Meanwhile, European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald was the clubhouse leader in the afternoon stretch of play with a score of 4-under 67. The Englishman was tied for 4th along with Ryan Fox, Alex Smalley, Stephan Jaeger and Aaron Rai.

Meanwhile, some previous champions had a day to forget. One of them was Phil Mickelson. The 6-time major champion carded a score of 79 in the first round and will need a huge performance in Round 2 to have any chance of making the cut.

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