Xander Schauffele has claimed Rory McIlroy was not alone in being forced to change his driver before the PGA Championship, suggesting that Scottie Scheffler was also trapped by the rule.
McIlroy was required to replace the clubhead on his favoured weapon after random testing found it was no longer conforming.
The PGA of America have since moved to dismiss any possibility of ‘intent’ by stating the issue is not uncommon due to wear and tear on equipment.
Schauffele, who was left enraged when his own driver failed ahead of the 2019 Open, has now hit out at the nature of testing, which is only carried out on a third of the field.
In doing so, he also cited his belief that 54-hole leader Scheffler was required to swap his clubhead this week.
‘Scott is winning the tournament and I think he switched to his backup too,’ Schauffele told Golfweek.
Scottie Scheffler was also forced to change his driver before the PGA Championship this week
Rory McIlroy was required to replace the clubhead on his favoured weapon after testing
Xander Schauffele has claimed Scheffler encountered the same problem in North Carolina
When that was met with surprise at Quail Hollow, Schauffele added: ‘See you don’t even know because he’s so good. We can deal with it because the (equipment) reps are so good now.’
McIlroy’s experience in falling far down the leaderboard in a blaze of loose drives would perhaps be a counterpoint to the sentiment. But Schauffele’s broader argument was about the unfairness of the testing procedure.
He said: ‘I think they should test everyone’s driver. It’s not right to just test 50 guys. It just doesn’t make sense if you’re in it for the spirit (of the game). The whole point of it is to protect the integrity of the field. If you don’t test everyone across the board I don’t think you’re protecting the whole field.
‘Do it to everybody, not just a third of the guys and if a player has a hot driver they’re still playing the tournament. Just my take.’
