There hasn’t been much going wrong for Scottie Scheffler at the PGA Championship, as he sits near the top of the leaderboard in the early stages of his second round.
But perhaps the only complaint stemmed from a viral slow-play video, where Scheffler appeared to take around five minutes before hitting his second shot 52 yards from the 14th hole on Thursday.
It remains unclear about the true reason behind Scheffler’s delay, though, as it could be a combination of both slow play and the design around the 14th hole at Oak Hill Country Club.
He was paired with Brooks Koepka and Gary Woodland during the first round, and the trio stalled on the 14th hole while Scheffler lined up his shot and repeatedly trekked the path to the pin — continuing to analyze the shot.
At one point, he threw his hands into the air, though it’s unclear what message Scheffler intended to communicate.
Ted Scott, Scheffler’s caddie, provided some different context behind the situation — beyond the video circulating on social media — following the round, which Scheffler finished at 3-under.
The Twitter account @CamYoungLegion contributed a reply to the Twitter thread with the viral video that said, “Also was letting group in front on the short par 4 finish up putting. He didn’t take 5 minutes to hit.”
And in reply, Scott, wrote, “Correct Cam. But that story doesn’t get likes” — adding a laughing emoji to the end of his tweet.
That aligned with the tone Scott used in a since-deleted tweet Thursday night, which, according to Golf.com, started with, “Slow play stinks. No one likes it.”
“What you don’t realize here is the next group is on the tee literally 45 feet from the pin,” Scott reportedly wrote in the tweet, according to the outlet. “So if Scottie hits it tight, it potentially disrupts their shots. It’s courtesy. We couldn’t see them so [Koepka] gave [Scheffler] the signal when it was his turn.”
Ahead of the PGA Championship, Koepka — who no longer competes on the PGA Tour after joining LIV Golf — said that he “would start stroking players” if they took too long before hitting their shot, pending an “understandable” situation such as when the wind changes.
“Technically in the rule book it says you have 40 seconds to hit your shot,” Koepka said, according to Golf.com. “I think that’s what it is. If you are taking over, technically you’re breaking the rules, right? So, I don’t know.”
Ryan Fox, who shot a 2-under 68 in the opening round, also commented on the “bottleneck” of golfers around the 14th hole — whose tee also reportedly sits near the tee for hole No. 1, and whose green sits near the tee for No. 15 — and told reporters that he waited 20 minutes before hitting his first shot.
“I think we got there and there were two groups waiting on the 14th tee,” Fox said, according to Golf.com, “and another group had just teed off 1.”
Scheffler, a 6-foot-3 26-year-old who played at Texas in college, was competing for first place with Corey Conners and Keegan Bradley during the second round at Oak Hill in Rochester, N.Y.
The Ridgewood, N.J. native won the 2022 Masters to claim his first major, and he has won six times on the PGA Tour.
He currently sits at No. 2 in the World Golf Rankings behind Jon Rahm, who struggled in the first round with a 6-over 76.