Here's the one thing scottie scheffler got badly wrong at quail hollow

WORLD NO.1 WAS BRILLIANT ON THE COURSE AT PGA BUT ALSO OFF TARGET WITH HIS MUDBALL VIEW 12:17, 20 May 2025 Sublime Scottie Scheffler got it spectacularly right on the course at Quail Hollow.

But, in terms of his preferred lies gripes, the World No.1 was miles off target during his PGA Championship romp. Golf is a game of extreme skill and no-one has more of it than Scheffler.

Naturally, as every player from 20-handicapper to tournament professional will tell you, it’s also a game of some luck, but dealing with adversity and dodgy situations is what separates the

professionals from boys in the local club. Talent, in sport and in life, is about adapting to challenges and curveballs, literally. When Scheffler’s approach to the 16th green on day one

sailed miles off to left the plunged into the lake, the cries of mudball went from mumble to roar. Cue the avalanche. Player after player complaining that lift, clean and place wasn't

in operation after heavy rainfall in tournament build-up. Of course, it must be a massive kick in the teeth when a drive is smashed brilliantly down to the middle of the fairway only for a

player to see a chunk of mud on his ball which is going to affect the next shot. At the same time, it’s a massive tickle on their backside they smack a wayward 30 yards off line only to

bounce off a spectator, or a hospitality unit and rocket back into the fairway. Or to finish up in a spot which should be rough, but ends up trampled flat for a great lie. The balls that are

fired 50 yards off line, only for a player to call for a ruling because there’s a scoreboard in the way. Jhonattan Vegas had a ball bounce off a bunker rake and zoom towards the flag during

the PGA. Scheffler had one himself off a tree. It’s the breaks, it’s the game. And you’ll get some good and some bad. It was amusing to see Bryson DeChambeau be asked at Quail Hollow when,

having moaned about bad luck, was asked if he could think of any good ones he had in the same round. Surprise, surprise, he couldn’t think of one. That’s probably due to the fact they never

register. Like reviews. No-one ever writes one about a hotel or a holiday when it’s good. Only to moan. Scheffler’s example about why preferred lies on tracks such as you have at the Open

would never be needed because of the turf actually defeated his point. At what other Championship in the world could you hit six different clubs off the same tee at the same par three? It

happens in links golf due to high winds, yet craftsmen such as Scheffler use their skills to overcome the bad luck and the conditions. What really is the difference with a mudball? It’s a

situation caused by change of conditions underfoot which cause weird ball flight, just as wind is a change of conditions from overhead which cause weird ball flight. You need skill to deal

with both and that’s not a random comment. That’s coming from a man that has won the same amount of Majors as Scheffler, Padraig Harrington. The Irishman said: “If the mud is on the ball at

3 o’clock, I play the ball to go left. If you’ve got a long second shot and there’s mud on your ball, I’ll sometimes just hood the club, hit something along the ground to the front of the

green and that will clean the mud off the ball. It’s a different kind of skill, but it’s part of the skill of the game. It’s like playing in bad weather.” Golfers, it seems, have become too

used to perfection. The clubs are designed to the extreme for extra spin, extra distance, extra control. Balls the same. Technology swamps the game and so do stats, but it shouldn’t just be

black and white, numbers and equipment. It should be dealing with a bad of bad luck and listening to the Sky boys during TV coverage was enlightening in a similar way to Harrington. Paul

McGinley said: “I saw Padraig’s comment. He sees it as a skill in the game. I played with Freddy [Couples] once in Augusta and on the 15th he’d hit a good tee shot. He was debating whether

to go for it in two or not, but he had mud on the ball, so what he did was take out a three-iron and chip it down the fairway to the lay-up area to get the mud off so that he would have a

clean ball for his third shot. Article continues below “I’m with Padriag on it. You hit it down the fairway and it’s in a divot. What do you do? You put it back in the stance, you take a

club less, you drive it in low, you try to get it on the front of the green, two-putt and get out of there. If you get a big mud ball, you’ve got to adjust as well. The thing about it is, a

PGA Tour, any kind of rain at all, and they give you placing. So the players are not used to playing mud balls and golf courses that are somewhat wet. The Tours are very quick to give them

placing when there’s any rain, so it’s not a skill that they harness a lot.” Scotland’s Ryder Cup star Andrew Coltart continued: “It’s an outside sport. You adapt to the conditions. It’s the

same with the wind. You change the shot selection.” Scheffler and colleagues such as Xander Schauffele are absolutely right to voice their opinions. We want that, we want to hear golfers

and sports star speak their mind because they can offer expertise most mere mortals don’t possess. The comments about the non-conforming driver tests made by No.1 were, for example, very

sensible. But it doesn’t mean they are always right. And, on this on occasion, it seems most folk feel the king on the course at Quail Hollow missed the cut in terms of his views.