While Scottie Scheffler’s calmness on the golf course is one of his biggest strengths, the world number one is certainly not immune to losing his cool.
It is always striking when Scottie Scheffler makes his frustration clear to see. Of course, the 29-year-old has had little to get annoyed about over the last two years in particular.
How many shots would Scottie Scheffler beat Tiger Woods by in an 18-hole stroke play match?
Many will remember Scheffler shouting at Ted Scott during the 2024 BMW Championship.
And there was another moment on Sunday at the Hero World Challenge where you could hear Scheffler seemingly getting angrier and angrier.
Scottie Scheffler left frustrated with a mud ball during the final round of the Hero World Challenge
Scheffler put himself in trouble on the 11th hole after attempting to reach the par five in two. The four-time major champion attempted to hit his driver from the fairway and went on to hook his shot 30 yards left of the green, with the ball ending up under a bush.
It was clear what Scheffler blamed the shot on, with a speck of mud on the ball. Tiger Woods suggested Scheffler made a poor decision being so aggressive with that in mind.
Of course, there was never going to be a lift, clean and place rule introduced in an event in the Bahamas. But Scheffler was not the only player who got unfortunate when they hit the middle of the fairway across the week. Wyndham Clark also complained about the condition of the course.
Obviously, the situation was nowhere near as bad as this year’s PGA Championship. But seeing Scheffler complain about a mud ball will have evoked some memories of the incredibly soft conditions at Quail Hollow.
What Scottie Scheffler said about mud balls in the fairway at the PGA Championship
Scheffler found himself in a superstar group with Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele over the first two days in North Carolina.
And speaking after posting the lowest score of the trio on the opening day – a 69 – Scheffler opened up on how annoying it was to not be able to remove mud from a ball in the fairway.
“On 16, I hit in the middle of the fairway, you’ve got mud on your ball, and it’s tough to control where it goes after that,” he said.
Does the rule on mud balls if you hit the fairway need changing?
“Yeah, Marty just asked me about that, actually and I kept the honour with making a double on a hole, and I think that will probably be the first and last time I do that in my career unless we get some crazy weather conditions,” he added, when asked about mud balls.
“It’s one of those deals where it’s frustrating to hit the ball in the middle of the fairway and get mud on it and have no idea where it’s going to go. I understand it’s part of the game, but there’s nothing more frustrating for a player. You spend your whole life trying to learn how to control a golf ball, and due to a rules decision all of a sudden you have absolutely no control over where that golf ball goes.
“But I don’t make the rules. I just have to deal with the consequences of those rules. I did a good job of battling back today and not letting a bad break like that, which cost me a couple shots, get to me. Did a good job battling after that and posting a decent score.”
Of course, Scheffler would go on to win that week.
Obviously, the mud would not have helped the shot he hit on 11 at Albany. But Scheffler was far from his best during the final round anyway. So it is hard to imagine that the mud prevented that second shot from finding the putting surface.
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