Xander Schauffele’s ruling explained at Wells Fargo Championship

In the opening round of the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship, Xander Schauffele made an eventful par on No. 8. It was made possible by a ruling after the seven-time PGA TOUR winner sent his tee shot on the drivable par-4 into thick bushes right of the fairway but was allowed to drop his ball outside of the shrubbery because a ShotLink tower stood between him and the hole. Golf Channel analyst Johnson Wagner and Senior Tournament Referee David Donnelly returned to the par-4 8h hole on Friday to explain the ruling in further detail.
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The PGA TOUR heads to Charlotte, North Carolina this week for the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club - site of the 2017 PGA Championship and 2022 Presidents Cup. This is the sixth signature event of the season, which features an elite field of 69 players. Rory McIlroy returns this week to a place where he’s had plenty of success. He’s claimed three victories here (2010, 2015 and 2021), as well as five top-10s. He enters this week with momentum after winning the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with Shane Lowry two weeks ago. Wyndham Clark will also tee it up as he looks to become the first player to win back-to-back here. This was Clark’s first win on TOUR, and he has claimed two more titles since that victory - including the U.S. Open. Xander Schauffele will also be in Charlotte this week as he hopes to secure his first win. He finished second here in 2023 and claimed T25 or better in 10 of 11 events this season. Others to look out for are Max Homa, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa and Tommy Fleetwood.
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[@mariokartgamecube]

I get that this is how the rules work in golf but it’s pretty funny how the segment at the end proves that he actually could have played it just fine without moving his ball

[@rickwilliams3515]

Could have yeah but the rule states you don't have to with the tower and wire in your line of sight to the flag so why would you?

[@CGBrendy]

at 6:26 you can see that he wasn't worried about the tower, he was worried about the guide wire. If you look just next to the W and F on the logo on the back wall the guidewires for the tower are smack in the middle of his line to the hole. I think its reasonable to think when this much money on the line, its fair to say that the tower wire could definitely interfere with his shot

[@hunterbarham5972]

This comment is completely wrong . In fact the video show the guide wire is clearly in the way. Slow the video down at 8:20 and the ball comes inches from hitting the guide wire lol what are you talking about ?

[@Plastpackad]

Top players seems to get a different ruling time after time. Would a player from the second half of the field get this kind of treatment?

[@potatopotato3204]

Yes usga says if a player is within top 50 world ranking or has won before on tour within the year they’ll get better rulings and more rules that favor them back in 2020 they implemented it in section 20-1

[@golfinglife610]

Facts just matters what player lol

[@dk_ward]

Looked like 3 or 4 driver lengths to me

[@TerlinguaTalkeetna]

I've walked with pga and lpga groups that call in the rules for clairification. It's not always easy to tell what going on when you do not know the rules. Good to great players and their caddies know the rules very well. Nowadays their are camera's everywhere at this level of golf.

[@MrPgagolfer]

Someone should notify Patrick Reed about the camera's 😂😂😂

[@kyleucarer4471]

How do you get benefits for hitting a bad shot? You should have to play the ball where it lies.

[@Darian2312]

great content

[@TC.....]

The original ball was by the fence. What kind of relieve did he get from that? Look like more than 1 club length to me!

[@CaneFan25]

If Xander goes on to win this tourney - this is why he won!

[@HellomynameisTomT]

He not gonna win..

[@logansmith1472]

He lost miserably

[@terryreilly3765]

At @2:53 David Donnelly is squatting, looking through the scrub and says “ Can you stand where that cable comes down”. He gets up saying “OK” and moves to his left, exiting the scrub. At 3:08, as he is leaving the scrub, two balls are visible, one behind Schauffle’s left foot and one which Donnelly was squatting behind, which I presume is the ball that he used to base his decision upon. It is obvious from coverage at around 2:20 that the ball as played is the one behind Schauflle’s left foot. What’s going on?

[@GabrielInch]

I *think* it’s because of the last thing Donnelly says at the end Once they agreed there was an obstruction of the cable from the actual ball, they moved sideways to a position where there is no longer the obstruction. This is the second ball we see down, used as a marker (and Donnelly is crouching here checking to see it is clear of obstruction) You then get 2 club lengths from this new position, not the original ball, hence the drop outside the scrub. I *think*…

[@TC.....]

why are they allowing 2 club length when a free drop is 1 club length. Penalty drop allows 2 club length. Total BS.

[@TC.....]

Someone needs to explains this from the very BEGINNING. 1. His original ball ended up by the fence. Was he in the penalty area? If so, is he entitled to a free drop? 2. It looked like there was another ball 2 club length away from the original ball, away from the fence. Looked like he was given a free drop. Again, was he in a penalty area? And why is it 2 club length instead of 1?

[@momiji33123]

i don't 4-iron was the shot Xander actually played there, was it? i mean to get out of that penalty area.

[@mikegalvin9339]

I can now understand the two club length relief , as at the time it wasnt explained about the wire or tower. However , the relief does not look like it was taken from where his ball ended up , as his driver is not 10 foot long . If taking relief would mean still obstructed by a tree, then i would have thought it would be a penalty drop. Ultimately he never had a penalty, considering where he hit it into , which for any amateur just doesn't seem right , despite his explanation

[@petercross6960]

that drop looked like about 6 club lengths - confused

[@mr.forster2939]

Is there not a limit to how long your driver can be ??? That 1 driver lenght looked about 12 foot

[@iy2486]

You better be able to hit that shotlink from there....

[@khf032863]

🔥🔥🔥

[@RollinTrollin]

Should just be OB.

[@thepossieguy]

I would say that a rule change is a no brainer but only the PGA tour is bad enough at making decisions to watch the TIO abuse all year and not make any rule changes for next season

[@mostlyinterested1016]

Do you know how many times I've watched a pro "create" a set of circumstances that fit him/her getting relief? "You know, if I stand one one leg and hop up and down as high as I can, I THINK I can just about not see the green because of that hot dog tent that I wouldn't have seen if I didn't put my ball 60 yards off-line." All the rest of us, when we spray our tee-shot into the boonies, are pretty much stuck with what we've got. Xander's shot was, with respect to all concerned, sideways back onto the fairway. Honestly, despite what the Rules Officials say, I think his shot was to hit the ball sideways and not to go for the "hero shot" towards the shotlink tower that "created" the relief - and the relief was "miles", not two club lengths.

[@tapryor2tonysub150]

This ruling was an embarrassment to the game. Absolute disgrace.

[@jakejones2633]

Yeah they should just have to play through the bleachers behind the greens too. They only build a small portable city directly on the golf course, why have rules to mitigate it?

[@stephenbergeron2720]

Ridiculous ruling the PGAT does all it can to keep their poster boys in contention and on the television

[@lastschicker]

What happened to shouting FORE?

[@carlos4a]

Now Imagine it was Patrick Reed !!

[@tunnel7]

Load of rubbish should have been made to play it from where it was result was in his favour NOT RIGHT AT ALL.

[@davidcoughlan3619]

Joke ...relief or cheating....?

[@adrianfdmi]

The caddy is a big crying baby

[@MariusFourie]

Rub of the green fellas..sometimes you hit the pin on approach and end up in the water. Luck goes both ways. He was within the rules. Let it go.

[@poohbear4130]

These Professional golfers benefit from the outside influences like score boards,cables,concession stands, crowds of people, if they played without the outside influences like we do you can add a couple stokes for sure! I don’t blame them for knowing the rules it’s part of there game you know everyone of these pro’s have benefited from a ruling at some point, right Jordan!

[@SliceTwiceGolf]

It was a terrible shot and should be treated as such, OB is OB. Sure.... rules should be applied but this feels more like rule bending than it is playing by the rules.

[@Jim-ni9ek]

If this was Tiger, all of the casual fanboys would be cheering about how awesome it was.

[@sly5789]

People hate because they don't understand the rules. Smdh

[@gregorypeterson9]

A Rocket scientist couldn't follow these stupid rules.

[@jakejones2633]

@@gregorypeterson9 “If something man made for the tournament blocks your line of sight, you get a free drop because obviously that isn’t supposed to be there” - you’re right, it’s simply too complicated to comprehend

[@bryank5502]

FOR SHAME

[@Point_Particle]

I only want to know how much longer the PGA will continue to call itself the Pro Golfer's Association of America, since it's now owned by Saudi Arabia. When should we expect the name to be updated to correctly reflect PGSA?

[@BruhBruhBruh]

🤡😂 Saudi Arabia doesn’t “own” the PGA. It’s a non-profit organization, but keep reposting/commenting your misinformation- Typical dumb take from another fake news spreading boomer 😂🤡

[@BruhBruhBruh]

🤡 Saudi Arabia doesn’t “own” a nonprofit. Typical boomer spreading misinformation 😂

[@BruhBruhBruh]

Maybe contact PGA instead of leaving boomer misinformation comments on KZbin videos 😂

[@bradcollins6659]

The PGA of America is for teaching professionals and the PGA Tour, which is a very specific separate entity, is for the touring, tournament, professional golfers. If the PIF contributes tons of $$$ without receiving any decision making authority, the autonomy still afforded the PGA Tour remains legitimate.

[@Torta--is--PLUR]

I wish they had to actually find their own shots instead of having marshals, fans and cameras pointing out their shots

[@adamzullo3624]

Lol, why?

[@GreeBoman]

​@@adamzullo3624because you are a lot less likely to flail it 320 if you have to go find it yourself within 3 mins