Scottie Scheffler turned on the style to go into the weekend at the top of the leaderboard at The Genesis Invitational but golf fans are far from happy with how he used PGA rules to his advantage.
Scheffler produced some magic moments throughout round two as he holed out from the bunker and produced yet more stunning iron play to put himself at seven under at the halfway stage of the event.
For Scheffler, who is finding his form after overcoming a hand injury from Christmas, it’s all about getting in contention before trying to pull away in rounds three and four.
As we all know, Scheffler is a strong finisher. And at seven under, he’ll very much believe he’s the man to beat.
However, just like every golfer in the world who has success, lady luck has played a role for Scheffler.
And it’s safe to say golf fans are not happy.
Golf fans fuming as Scottie Scheffler takes advantage of ruling at the Genesis Invitational
With Scheffler getting his second round underway on the tenth hole, he soon found trouble by playing an awful tee-shot – by his standards – on 11 (his second hole).
Scheffler found himself in the rough over on the next tee box. However, in a remarkable turn of events and huge stroke of luck, he found himself partially blocked out by a sponsorship sign.
Taking advantage of the line of sight ruling, Scheffler was allowed to drop his ball on the actual tee box, before playing a stunning second shot to make par in the end.
However, golf fans were far from impressed.
One fan labelled the ruling as ‘disgusting’, while another didn’t blame Scheffler, but lamented the rule in general.
“Garbage rule here. Scottie at no fault for taking advantage but this rule is garbage.”
Going on a mini rant, one golf watcher suggested the rules officials were influenced by pressure.
“It’s ridiculous and the official was bullied. His first drop his swing was well clear of that sign. They will fall over each other to stretch the rules. Tournament changing drop. It was double to par in 5 mins.”
While another fan suggested it just didn’t sit well.
“It’s within the rules, whatever. But that Scottie Scheffler is able to take a drop with a clear line of sight to the flag as well as on perfectly flat tee box grass after an awful tee shot just doesn’t seem right to me”
Another fan even went as far as to ask for an explanation from the TOUR.
“Can you explain how Scheffler got a drop from deep rough to the tee box those rules are awful”
While finally, another fan suggested they’d rather sit through slow play than see players benefit like Scheffler did.
“I am not sure how anyone around golf could think that these unfair drops should be part of the game at the highest level. Rather watch slow play than something this egregious.“
How Scottie Scheffler was allowed relief on hole 11 at Torrey Pines
The ruling did cause some confusion but ultimately it came down to a couple of issues for the officials.
First off was Scheffler being blocked out by the signage, which constituted relief for the line of sight – which in itself was debatable.
The second part, as explained by golf journalist John McGrath, was to do with ‘closely grown areas’, which allowed Scheffler to go onto the tee box.
Still, while the ruling is probably valid enough, if Scheffler goes on to win, you can imagine the likes of David Thomson and Rory McIlroy will have something to say.
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