Scottie Scheffler knew the issue would come up eventually, but the newly minted winner of the PGA Championship found himself answering questions on Sunday night about nonconforming clubs.
Scheffler confirmed his driver had been tested in the past week and he had to make a change, which didn't prevent him from capturing his third major and first Wanamaker Trophy by five strokes at Quail Hollow Club.
The World No 1 player could even joke after the victory that the new driver didn't affect his accuracy on Sunday, when he was hitting to the left.
“No. I think that was my fault,” he said.
PGA Tour players having their drivers tested came to the forefront on Friday, when SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio first reported that Rory McIlroy had been forced to switch to a different driver after his favourite TaylorMade weapon was deemed nonconforming in a test conducted on Tuesday.
“Driver testing is something that regularly happens on Tour,” Scheffler said.
“My driver did fail me this week. We had a feeling it was going to be coming because I've used that driver for more than a year. I was kind of fortunate for it to last that long.”
The US Golf Association routinely tests driver heads randomly at PGA Tour events and major championships to determine whether their spring-like effect is conforming.
Spring-like effect refers to the elasticity of the clubface, which allows it to spring back on impact with the ball, much like a trampoline.
A driver that is conforming one week could be nonconforming the next due to minute changes in the clubface as a result of the wear and tear of hitting balls.
Scheffler noted “with the amount of practice I do, I felt like I was fortunate for it to last that long.”
He credited TaylorMade for having a new driver ready if needed for The CJ Cup Byron Nelson, which he also won on May 4 by tying the PGA Tour's all-time scoring record, and the PGA Championship. He hit 35 of 56 fairways in regulation at Quail Hollow and was fifth for four rounds in strokes gained off the tee.
“We were really prepared,” Scheffler said. “So it wasn't that big of a deal.”
He does take the testing seriously and would like to see changes in the process.
“I would argue that if we're going to test the drivers, we need to be even more robust in the way we test them,” Scheffler said.
That was a conversation I had with one of the rules officials. If it's something we're going to take seriously, I feel like we're almost going halfway with it now.
“If we're going to test only a third of the field. If we're going to do it right, leave it up to us as players, like the rest of the rules in the game of golf are.”
He put it in the context of a new rule that “we haven't quite got right” and could be more strict.
“You can test guys every week, if you want,” Scheffler said. “There's no reason we shouldn't.”
The PGA of America released a statement Saturday about the on-site testing process, which did not mention any player by name.
“We can confirm the USGA was invited to do club testing at the PGA Championship, at the PGA of America's request,” wrote chief championships officer Kerry Haigh.
“That testing programme is consistent with the same level of support the USGA provides to the PGA TOUR and other championships, as part of their regular programmes for driver testing. The standard process is for about a third of the field to be randomly tested under the programme. 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, specially 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 (are) 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 clubs 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.”
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