Scottie Scheffler has voiced strong criticism of the US PGA Championship organizers for refusing to implement preferred lies during the first round at Quail Hollow, leaving players to contend with the challenging conditions caused by recent heavy rain. The course was soaked from persistent downpours in the days leading up to the tournament, resulting in several players, including Scheffler, having to deal with mud-covered golf balls a significant handicap that introduced an element of chance into the competition.
On the 16th hole, Scheffler found water in the fairway and subsequently made a double bogey, a setback he partly attributed to the muddy conditions. Despite recovering to shoot a two-under-par 69 for the day, Scheffler was vocal about his frustration during post-round interviews. He explained that hitting the ball cleanly in the fairway and then having it covered in mud made it nearly impossible to predict how the ball would behave. “You hit in the middle of the fairway, you’ve got mud on your ball, and it’s tough to control where it goes after that,” he said.
Scheffler emphasized the loss of control that mud balls cause, stating that golfers spend their lives mastering the art of controlling their shots, only to have that skill compromised by conditions governed by rules that do not allow preferred lies. “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,” he said. He acknowledged that he does not make the rules but must deal with their consequences.
The reluctance to implement preferred lies in major championships is well-established, with organizers often fearing that such measures could devalue the event or detract from its traditional challenge. Scheffler, however, was unsurprised by the stance taken at Quail Hollow, highlighting a fundamental difference between the style of courses typically found in the United States and the links-style courses in the UK or Ireland. “If you’re going to play links golf, there’s absolutely no reason you should play the ball up,” he noted, referring to the practice of allowing relief when balls are lodged in mud or casual water. He explained that links courses have turf and underlying ground conditions that allow the ball to bounce and roll despite rain, something not common on American courses, where overseeded fairways and the absence of sand-capping make mud balls more likely.
Scheffler further argued that penalizing players for landing the ball in the middle of the fairway, only to have mud compromise their next shot, is unfair. “When you think about the purest test of golf, I don’t personally think hitting the ball in the middle of the fairway should get you punished,” he said. He acknowledged the traditionalist perspective “play it as it lies”—but stressed that many do not understand how much effort and skill goes into controlling the ball. Having that control undermined by unpredictable mud was, in his view, an unnecessary and unfair element of chance in an already challenging sport.
Adding to Scheffler’s frustrations, defending champion Xander Schauffele also expressed concerns about the mud balls, predicting that the problem would worsen as the tournament progressed. He described the conditions as entering a “perfect cake zone,” where the ground is muddy underneath, causing the ball to pick up mud on contact. Schauffele admitted the difficulty in finding a strategy to combat the issue, noting that while hitting the ball lower off the tee might reduce the risk of mud accumulation, it also decreases distance and carry, creating a difficult trade-off. “It’s a bit of a crapshoot,” he said, underlining the element of luck that mud balls introduce to the game.
Together, Scheffler and Schauffele’s comments highlight a significant debate in modern golf over how to balance tradition with fairness, especially when natural elements severely impact playing conditions. As the US PGA Championship continues, all eyes will be on how the players adapt to the muddy fairways and whether future tournaments reconsider the use of preferred lies under similar circumstances.
