How Scottie Scheffler discovered the WILD Open rules violation

Scottie Scheffler told “Brucey” and “Woody” to stop looking.

And with that, the four-time major winner got one of the most dangerous fouls you'll ever see, and in the deciding moments of the Open Championship, no less.

“I got a nice break there on 17,” Scheffler said.

That was clear. Royal Birkdale's streak ended with a birdie, then, that put him back in the lead – although it included a shot that led to screaming questions, an off-deck driver choice, a wayward second shot, a momentary misdirection and rules.

– From the tee on the 571-yard, par-5 penalty hole, Scheffler tried to “cut” his ball back into the fairway with a 3-wood. He appeared to do just that, only for his ball to kick left and end up in the rough and behind a 30-foot mound. His answer got into the blood. Scheffler shouted from the tee box:

“Why?

“WHY?

“Why – how did that happen? A ball cut. One jump.”

“I thought I hit another shot that I felt was going to be in the fairway,” Scheffler said afterward. “That ball was rolling down the left edge of the fairway, and I haven't seen many balls that didn't roll, especially when it's bending sideways here, and it was like, man, I got that break on 13 where I hit it bad and I couldn't drive it more than 10 feet, and after that ball, it was 14, and I was in my mind. Like, that ball is cutting.

“The shot there for me, if I hit a normal 3-wood, it's going to land in those three bunkers so I have to put a ton of spin on it, and I do that by cutting the ball. So I hit the shot I needed to get the ball on the fairway, and the ball didn't react the way I thought it would out of the way of thinking.”

– From the back of the mound and 298 yards away, Scheffler tried to find the green – with the driver off the deck. The defending Open champion started the hole two shots back and was looking to cut the deficit, only for his ball to connect – and it ended up left of the green, left of the difficulty and left of the “Clarets,” cleverly named, a 30-yard fairway built for the tournament and facing the putting area.

“This is a mile to go,” said course commentator John Wood on NBC radio.

“Oh my god,” said announcer Terry Gannon.

Scheffler tried to see where his ball ended up. A law officer came along. “The law enforcement officer said it was a little bit of a big deal,” Scheffler said. “I don't know what you call that, like a sponsor's place or something. No Teddy.” [Scheffler’s caddie, Ted Scott] it had beads where it came down.”

– From the same spot where he hit his second shot, Scheffler dropped for a while, then connected the 3-wood, although this ball ended up on the right side of the “Clarets.”

– A discussion of the rules followed.

On the left side of the “Clarets,” Scheffler and Scott talked to the rules official, and Scheffler said he was told that his ball “went over the TIO fence, so. [the official] he said whatever is there is part of the TIO.” TIO is short for temporary immovable obstacles (think tournament chairs, like “Clarets”), and players can be granted relief from them under local model rule F-23 of the Rules of Golf.

But what about the ball itself?

As the speech continued, the observers searched for Scheffler's ball – and were told to stop. Among them were Wood, or “Woody,” and an assigned security officer whom Scheffler referred to as “Brucey” at a later press conference.

Why don't you get it? That is also addressed under the F-23 model venue rule, and that section reads: “If the player's ball has not yet been located but is known or certain that it will come to rest on the TIO, the player may be relieved under this venue rule by using the approximate point where the ball last crossed the edge of the TIO on the fairway as the ball's spot for purposes of near relief.”

In Scheffler's case, this means he can drop his ball to the left and it will miss about 100 yards from the green, in an area trodden by fans. If the ball had been returned, Scheffler was told that he would have to throw it down in what would be considered a low point.

“We tried to find it,” Scheffler said. “I said, if I get it, does that help me?

“So I decided to stop the search and go back and give it up to get help from the TIO. I actually did just that this year during Byron. [the CJ Cup Byron Nelson event]. It's not something I'm proud of, but I was familiar with it.”

So Scheffler didn't get the ball?

“I stopped them,” he said. “They had guys pointing up there, like it's sitting right here, and I just said I'm pulling up there, and I said, guys, get out of there, stop, you can't get the ball.” Luckily, it was my security guard guy who I had been with for a few years here. Its name is Brucey. And Woody was up there.

“So both of those guys are good – I know them well, so when I say, please don't look at the ball, they're out there.”

Scheffler then dropped about 100 yards from the hole, dropped to 9 feet, and made the next birdie putt, moving him one shot back from the lead. Reactions to sequences can certainly vary. Did Scheffler follow the rules? Yes. Is the law fun? Yes, Scheffler's ball went left, but he was able to play his next shot in the fairway because of the layup.

From there, he turned 18, and finished three behind winner Ryan Fox.

“Yeah, I mean, today was a great effort,” Scheffler said. “I felt like I was doing the right things out there. I looked at it again today. It was just – I guess it just wasn't my week. I got a good break there on the 17th, but off the ball, my ball – I don't know if you were watching the shot. It probably should have been in the fairway.

“Yeah, those things hurt. My ball on 13 goes in that hole. It wasn't my best shot, but it was a time where I needed to be aggressive, and I saw good things happen to guys who hit the ball there a few days ago, and it didn't happen to me today.

My ball on 14 I think is in the fairway, I'm coming there, it's in the pot hole. Little things like that during the week usually come together.

“I ran a really good race this week. I did a good job of staying patient and hitting it really well over the four days. Yesterday was probably the only day I didn't hit it the way I wanted to.”

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