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Mark Schlabach
Charlotte, NC – The three best golfers in the world combined to make a triple -double Thursday during the first round of the PGA championship at the Hollow Club Quail, and that was not the right genre.
Golfer No. 1 in the world Scottie Scheffler, the champion of title in title Rory McILroy and the defending winner of the PGA championship, Xander Schauffele, who played together, each made a double Bogey 6 on the 16th hole by 4, their seventh hole of the day after starting on the new back.
“I kept the honor after making a double,” said Scheffler. “Probably the first and last time it will happen in my career, unless we get crazy weather conditions.”
Scheffler recovered to display a 2-mes of 33 out of the first nine and was tied in 14th row 2 sous when he left the course. Schauffele picked up a birdie on n ° 8 and was tied at the 60th to 1. McILroy carded two other Bogeys and was equal to the 85th to 3.
Ryan Gerard was the general leader halfway until Thursday afternoon at 5 sous. The captain of the European Ryder Cup team Luke Donald, 47, was among the four players on the second row at 4 sous.
The 16th hole of 535 yards is the longest by 4 of the route, and it turned out to be a challenge for each of the three best golfers in the world.
McILroy, who became the sixth golfer to finish the Grand Chelem in a career by winning the Masters last month, had the greatest adventure of the 16th. He brings his route to 331 yards in the trees on the left. His ball would probably have been in the water if the rough was not extra long and thick because of this week’s rain.
McILroy was left with an awkward second blow from a sidehill. His rear foot slipped when he swung his club, and his ball was only 65 feet on another hill. McILroy’s third shot from 206 Yards was short and to the right of the green, and he had to hit his fourth on a Greenside bunker. He has two 12 feet blows for a double Bogey 6.
McILroy, quadruple winner of the Wells Fargo championship with Hollow Quail, only reached four of the 14 Fairways and lost 2.34 strokes against the field in the field.
Scheffler came out of an eagle on the 15th par-5 after having made a putt of 35½ feet of Green to reach 2 sous. But he returned these two shots when he hung his second stroke in the pond behind the 16th green.
Scheffer said his ball was covered with mud, after about 4 inches of rain fell on the route this week.
The PGA of America has chosen not to play with favorite lies, which would allow players to lift, clean and place their balls in an designated area.
“I understand that it’s part of the game, but there is nothing more frustrating for a player,” said Scheffler. “You spend your whole life trying to learn to control a golf ball, and due to a rules of rules suddenly, you have absolutely no control where this golf ball goes.”
In a statement on Wednesday, the PGA of America said: “The game surfaces are exceptional and dry on time. We mow the fairways this evening.”
“I don’t do the rules,” said Scheffler. “I just have to deal with the consequences of these rules. I did a good job of fighting today and not to leave a bad break like that, which cost me a few shots, get me a good job to fight after that and to publish a decent score.”
Left on the short side after a drop, Scheffler had to climb to 52 feet beyond the hole. He had to make a 7-foot for Double-Bogey 6.
According to Elias Sports Bureau, Scheffler had never made a double Bogey (or worse) in the first round of a major championship before Thursday.
Schauffele hit a 323 yards journey in the Fairway, but almost struck an identical shot as a scheffler on his approach. He dismissed 39 feet beyond the hole after a drop and two strokes for 6.
“We were in the middle of the fairway, and I don’t know, we had to aim to the right of the stands,” said Schauffele. “I’m not sure. I aimed to the right of the bunker, and he whispered in the water, and Scottie whipped him in the water too. This is what it is, and many guys are confronted with it, but it’s just unhappy to hit good shots and pay them in this way. It’s a bit stupid.”
Schauffele feared that the conditions will get worse that temperatures warm up this weekend.
“The mud balls will get worse,” said Schauffele. “They will get worse because the pieces ruin themselves. They will enter this perfect cake area where it is a bit muddy below, then pick up mud on the way.”
