It was a real grind for Scottie Scheffler on day one of the Procore Championship and the way his round ended pretty much summed up his day.
Scheffler posted a round of two-under par 70 on day one at the Procore Championship and it was very clear to see that he was nowhere near his best.
During the first round, Scheffler played with Russell Henley and J.J. Spaun at the Procore Championship, with Keegan Bradley clearly testing out potential Ryder Cup pairings.
Surprisingly, it was Scheffler who posted the worst score in the group, by quite some margin as well.
The world number one was getting nowhere fast at the Silverado resort and it seemed like a constant battle for him to remain under par.
Scheffler is playing the Procore Championship to better prepare for the Ryder Cup, and he clearly has some serious rust to shake off ahead of Bethpage Black.
The 29-year-old made numerous uncharacteristic mistakes on day one in Napa on what could have been a history-making day for him.
Scottie Scheffler says why he refused free drop on day one of the Procore Championship
By carding a round of 70, Scheffler missed out on shooting in the 60s for the 22nd consecutive round and as a result, he failed to make history.
Heading into the event, the world number one was tied with Patrick Cantlay after posting 21 rounds in a row in the 60s, and his incredible run finally ended in Napa.
He failed to birdie his final hole of the day, and that was no surprise really considering the pickle he found himself in.
The 29-year-old pulled his tee shot and his ball finished next to a tree with overhanging branches prohibiting his back swing.
Scheffler somehow managed to hack his ball back into play, but only onto the 16th fairway, where his approach to the green was blocked by a huge scoreboard and a tented area, which enabled him to take a free ‘temporary immovable obstruction’ drop.
The ‘TIO rule’ allows players to take relief when their line of sight to the pin is blocked by something that has been put into play for the tournament week, i.e grandstands or scoreboards.
So with Scheffler entitled to a free drop, it was somewhat of a surprise to see him not take it. Now we all know why, though.
After his round, the Dallas native explained why he refused to move his ball for no penalty on the 18th hole on Thursday.
He said: “Oh, yeah. I was behind all those tents and a scoreboard, and I would have liked to have been able to see the pin when I was hitting my approach.
“Granted, you should probably be on the correct hole while doing that, but I could have gotten relief from the scoreboard or like the tent, like the whole grandstand tent area, but either one of them would have brought me into the rough so it wasn’t quite worth it.“
Golf fans demanded rule change and Scheffler situation proved why
There is a feeling amongst some golf fans that a professional golfer playing on tour should be made to play their ball as it lies.
They have complained about the TIO rule on numerous occasions this season.
And Scheffler actually proved their case on Thursday in Napa.
He easily cleared the trouble between himself and the green and let’s face it, no golfer should be entitled to a free drop anyway when they have actually hit their ball onto the wrong fairway to begin with.
The only reason why Scheffler didn’t take a drop was because doing so would have put him in an even worse position concerning his lie.
Moving forward, the rule in professional golf should be that everyone has to play their ball as it lies, unless someone could be hurt as a result.
It would certainly bring lot more creativity back into the game, and we saw that in real-time when Scheffler was forced to hit a towering iron shot over an enormous tree and the scoreboard blocking his path to the green.
He still managed to find the putting surface. Remember, these guys are good, as the iconic slogan once said!
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