CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The driver of Masters champion Rory McIlroy isn’t the only one in the U.S. Golf Association announced the test ahead of this week’s PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club.
World No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler also confirmed that USGA dominated his drivers on Sunday, taking third place in his five-stroke victory over Harris English, Bryson DeChambeau and Davis Riley.
“Driving tests are often done on tours,” Schffler said. “My drivers really disappointed me this week. We felt it would come because I’ve been using the driver for over a year. I’m lucky to last that long and I feel so lucky.”
McIlroy won a green coat at the Masters in April, and he was also one of the golfers who declared a failure on Friday.
McIlroy, tied for 47th in the PGA Championship, left Quail Hollow on Sunday without talking to reporters for the fourth consecutive day.
Of the 74 players who advanced on Sunday, he ranked 43rd out of 74 of 14 fairways. In the first round, he hit only 4 of 14 fairways.
It said in a statement that the U.S. PGA required USGA driver testing at Quail Hollow.
“The program is consistent with the same level of support we provide for the PGA Tour, which is part of its regular driver testing program,” USGA said.
The focus of the driver test is the “character time” or spring-like effect of the club’s face. Drivers’ faces tend to “creep” or sparse, and the more golfers use them, the more spring they give them.
The test results are confidential.
Schefler worked hard to get on the fairway with his new driver for the first nine Sundays. He said his new driver was not a problem. That was his swing. He hit 13 of 14 fairways in the third round with the new Taylormade driver.
“I think if we were going to test drivers, we needed to be more robust in the way they were tested,” Scheffler said. “That was the conversation I had with a rule officer; if that was something we were going to take seriously, I think we were almost halfway through now.
“If we can only test one-third of the field, if we are going to do it right, keep it for us as a player, just like the rest of the rules in golf.”
Two-time Major Champion Xander Schauffele agreed that drivers across the field need to be tested.
“I think they should test everyone’s driver,” he told golf on Sunday. “It’s wrong to test only 50 people. [of the game]. Its entire purpose is to protect the integrity of the field. If you don’t test everyone comprehensively, I don’t think you’re going to protect the entire field. ”
