CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Scottie Scheffler said after winning the PGA Championship on Sunday that he was among the players who had their drivers tested prior to the tournament by the United States Golf Association—and that it failed to conform to the testing protocols.
Scheffler, who won the third major championship of his career and consecutive events he played on the PGA Tour, said he was aware his driver might be close to the limit and had been preparing to make a switch.
He also called for testing of all players, not just random sampling.
“So the driver testing is something that regularly happens on Tour,” Scheffler said. “My driver did fail me this week. We had a feeling that it was going to be coming because I’ve used that driver for over a year. I was kind of fortunate for it to last that long, I felt like.
“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. 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 right 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.
“It’s a newer rule that we haven’t quite gotten right yet. I think we have some stuff to figure out. I think, if we’re going to do it, we might as well do it right, get more robust and get even more strict. You can test guys every week, if you want. I mean, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t.”
On Friday, SiriusXM PGA Tour radio reported that Rory McIlroy’s driver had failed the test for “spring-like effect” prior to the tournament and he needed to go to a backup driver.
The Masters champion never addressed the report and the PGA of America first said it would not comment before issuing a statement on Saturday afternoon.
Kerry Haigh, the chief championships officer for the PGA of America, confirmed that the USGA administered club testing this week, a common occurrence at PGA Tour events throughout the year.
“That testing program is consistent with the same level of support that the USGA provides to the PGA Tour and other championships, as part of their regular programs for driver testing,” Haigh said in the statement. “The standard process is for about a third of the field to be randomly tested under the program. 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.”
In 2019, the Tour announced a testing policy because through normal wear and tear it is not uncommon for a conforming driver to go over the allowable limit for “spring-like” effect and thus become non-conforming.
Players are typically not aware if there is an issue with their clubs.
A player who uses a non-conforming club faces disqualification from the tournament.
“Like I said, we were prepared for it,” said Scheffler, who like McIlroy plays a TaylorMade driver. “I had used my driver for over a year. With the amount of practice that I do, I felt like I was fortunate for it to last that long.”
Two weeks ago at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, which Scheffler won, he said he was focused on getting a back-up driver ready for that event and the PGA.
“We were really prepared ... the team at TaylorMade did a really good job—actually the week of the Byron, we were really focused on getting it back up for that tournament and this one.
“Like I said, we were really prepared. So it wasn’t that big of a deal.”
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Scottie Scheffler Calls for ‘More Robust’ Testing After Winning PGA With Backup Driver.