Rory McIlroy wasn't the only one who failed a driving test at Quail Hollow earlier this week, it turns out. So did the eventual PGA winner.
Prior to teeing it up in the 107th PGA Championship, Scottie Scheffler stated that his driver was likewise declared non-conforming by the USGA, which handles the testing for the PGA of America. Earlier in the day, Scheffler's rival Xander Schauffele informed the media about Scheffler's failed test.
Scheffler said on Sunday evening, after winning by five shots, that driver testing is something that happens regularly on Tour. He added that his driver had failed him that week and that they had anticipated this because he had been using it for over a year. He felt fortunate that it had lasted that long.
Older drivers' faces thin and ultimately fail the typical time test, which gauges the club's spring-like function, because modern drivers become hotter the more they are struck. After the 2019–20 season, the PGA Tour began testing drivers at its tournaments; however, not all of them are tested every week.
According to Scheffler, he and TaylorMade were "really well-prepared" for the eventual non-conforming status of his older driver. He finished seventh in strokes gained off the tee this week with his replacement, despite having a rough final round on Sunday, hitting only six of 14 fairways.
In response to a question about whether the error was caused by the new technology, Scheffler laughed heartily and admitted that he was to blame.
On a more serious note, Scheffler attacked the testing's randomness, just as Schauffele had done hours before.
Scheffler argued that if drivers were to be tested, the testing process needed to be more robust. He mentioned a conversation he had with a rules official, stating that the current approach felt like only a halfway measure. He believed that if only a third of the field was being tested, players should be trusted to adhere to the rules, similar to other rules in golf.
Scheffler stated that the rule was new, and they hadn't quite got it right yet. He believed they still had some things to figure out and that if they were going to implement the rule, they might as well do it thoroughly, making it more robust and strict. He suggested that players could be tested every week if desired, and saw no reason why not.