“I brought the rules official in there with me” - Xander Schauffele happy with the favorable ruling he received at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
Xander Schauffele led the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship at the end of Day 1. However, the golfer’s opening round was highlighted by the drop gate controversy. For the unversed, Schauffele’s drive on the par-4 eighth hole ended up in a cluster of trees and bushes in a penalty area.
Interestingly, the golfer avoided disaster, as he received a favorable ruling from the officials. He got free relief despite the ball being near the property fence line. According to rules official Dave Donnelly, one of the PGA Tour’s ShotLink towers, which falls under the Temporary Immovable Object category, was in the golfer’s line to the green. The player was able to receive free relief owing to the tower.
While the move stirred controversy with fans calling foul, Xander Schauffele came out to defend the ruling.
Giving his take on the decision, the seven-time PGA Tour winner said that he “brought the rules official in there” and explained that there was only one shot he could hit.
He said that he got “relief out of the junk and then hit a pretty good shot on the green” making for a “pretty stressless par.”
Speaking about the ruling he received during round 1 of the Wells Fargo Championship, Xander Schauffele said in the post-round interview:
“Yeah, I hit it in the trees. My ball was probably like a foot, two feet from the fence. If I -- ball was here, fence was kind of here, hitting back this direction. If I went towards the green, the fence kind of worked this way, so I had what I could hit, a 4-iron or something low and just kind of run it through. If it gets stuck, I'll just kind of hit my next one out.
But I brought the rules official in there with me because I was like, you've got to be OK with this because this is literally the only shot I can hit. So Austin and I moved two massive rocks that weren't embedded and then I got relief out of the junk and then hit a pretty good shot on the green from there. What was a very stressful moment turned into a pretty stressless par.”
Xander Schauffele leads the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
Xander Schauffele shot a 7-under 64 on Thursday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship. The 30-year-old took a three-shot lead over Rory McIlroy, Collin Morikawa and Alex Noren at Quail Hollow Club.
Interestingly, the World No.4 golfer got lucky not once but three times on his 17th hole. Schauffele landed his short par-4 eighth tee shot in a heavily wooded area right of the fairway. His playing partner Wyndham Clark found his ball within the allotted search period.
He enjoyed a second break when he and his caddie Austin Kaiser were allowed to move a rock in the line of his backswing. The ShotLink tower was the golfer’s third break as it allowed him a free relief.
Schauffele later came out to claim that he was satisfied with his overall play. However, the PGA Tour star admitted that he had good fortune, as he “got really lucky multiple times.”
It will be interesting to see if Xander Schauffele manages to keep the lead on Day 2 of the competition.