Scottie Scheffler admits his driver failed test at start of PGA Championship

Scottie Scheffler has revealed he had to change his driver on the eve of the PGA Championship after it failed a routine conformity test.

The world No.1 was one of around 50 players who had their drivers inspected at random by the USGA ahead of the second men’s major of the year.

It has been reported that as many as ten drivers were found to have exceeded the allowed threshold.

Rory McIlroy was thrust front and centre of the conversation on Friday after SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio reported his trusty TaylorMade QI10 driver was deemed non-conforming on Tuesday.

The Irishman declined media requests at the end of each day’s play at Quail Hollow and, as of Monday morning, has yet to comment on the matter but, speaking shortly after sealing the third major victory of his career, Scheffler confirmed that he, too, had fallen foul of the testers, forcing him into making a late change to his bag.

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“Driver testing is something that regularly happens on tour,” he revealed. “My driver did fail me this week. We had a feeling that it was going to be coming because I’ve used that driver for over a year. I was kind of fortunate for it to last that long.”

Whilst not disputing the result of the test, the 28-year-old did, however, share some concerns about the way it is conducted.

“I would argue that if we’re going to test the drivers, we need to be even more robust in the way we test them,” he added. “That was a conversation I had with one of the rules officials; if it’s something we’re going to take seriously, I feel like we’re almost going halfway with it right now.

“If we’re going to test only a third of the field, if we’re going to do it right, leave it up to us as players, like the rest of the rules in the game of golf are.

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“It’s a newer rule that we haven’t quite gotten right yet. I think we have some stuff to figure out. I think, if we’re going to do it, we might as well do it right, get more robust and get even more strict. You can test guys every week, if you want. I mean, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t.”

He added: “The team at TaylorMade did a really good job [of replacing the driver]. Actually the week of the Byron, we were really focused on getting it back up for that tournament and this one. Adrian [Rietveld, TaylorMade’s senior tour manager], he did a great job getting me fit for a head.

“Like I said, we were really prepared, so it wasn’t that big of a deal.”

Michael McEwan is bunkered's Head of Content and has been part of the team since 2004. In that time, he has interviewed almost every major figure within the sport, from Jack Nicklaus, to Rory McIlroy, to Donald Trump. The host of the multi award-winning bunkered Podcast and a member of Balfron Golfing Society, Michael is the author of three books and is the 2023 PPA Scotland 'Writer of the Year' and 'Columnist of the Year'. Dislikes white belts, yellow balls and iron headcovers. Likes being drawn out of the media ballot to play Augusta National.

Head of Content