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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see if Xander chaet can get close to the green here at eight coming off that Eagle at seven they’re looking way right yeah that guy’s looking up spotter up there he’s looking for it in the trees that was way right the second one just right this is at the eight chaet is looking for his ball right over there at [Applause] eight Mark DUS bobic from PJ tour rules is with us Deuce what is he looking at over here yeah Kurt Xander hit a provisional off the te which if he would have known it’s obviously he didn’t know there was a red penalty area there but cuz you’re not allowed to hit a provisional for a ball that is in the penalty area but he didn’t know that it was so it was okay for him to hit that provisional but now that he gets up there he sees that the ball is in the Pro in in the red penalty area so now he’s going to estimate that spot where it last crossed which now that they found the ball they can make a more a better judgment of where it crossed or or play it right Deuce I mean he still has that option if he thinks can yes sir yes sir he always has that option but um at least they have a spot that they could operate on if if he chooses not to play all the way to this bag to have a clear shot can you move it long as it’s not embedded which doesn’t look like it was been able to move it if it was Ed yeah ow ow I mean Mark they’re they’re moving loose impediments inside the penalties area no problem there as well no problem with that I did hear I did hear them talk about embedded um and whether the ball that you can’t have an embedded ball in a penalty area and that that loose impediment there that rock is not as long as it’s not solidly embedded which if Xander can move it it’s fine well Zer didn’t want to pull him out so he’s going to get his man to do the heavy work Austin Kaiser in there doing the heavy lifting right now you guys want to play yeah please if we’re pitching out here this is this not in our way this can you can you stand where that cable comes down yeah [Applause] [Music] [Applause] okay all right I need you to move please I got to come out this way Mark dbob you need to explain what’s going on here I know Dave Donnelly loves being in under those trees there you can see the Camry Tower right there that’s one of our shotlink Camry towers and there’s a guywire that comes down off of that so the determination Dave just made is that Xander Can Xander make it to that camera Tower through the trees there and uh Davis made the decision he can so he’s going to get relief out of that it would be free relief even though he’s in the penalty area he has to stay in that penalty area to take his full and completely closer right there yeah that’s very close so we got two Club legs from right here yeah dropping in the second one okay you want to get driver out see how far we can get it’s a great break for him right there at the beginning of that two CL thanks ow it’s all within the rules everything’s great and that’s why our officials on on site there to help him with that so he doesn’t make a mistake he knows that uh he can ask those questions and they will help him out and give the best answer we still have a shot but also an experienced player could as we know will actually ask that decision going to be able to drop it I think right on the edge all right I remove it that’s repl it in play okay thanks so it was up against the T there as long as he pulled the te then and it didn’t move he’s good to go if it if it had moved Dave Donley telling him he would replace it you know that’s why the players sometimes they’ll bring an official in and they’ll ask these questions because in the end this is going to work so much in his favor to get all of this uh the relief to here and that’s a good shot and he has that up the slope for birdie yeah he’s going to get out of there with a four made Eagle at seven he’s going to make a four here at eight look like he maybe you know best case scenario he’d walk out of there with a five we’re here outside Quail Hollow Club right to the right of the eighth green I’m with PJ tour rules official David Donley uh there was a lot made of the drop that Xander chafl took yesterday from here there’s a shotlink tower in his way and there’s been a lot of criticism and I’ve got the man who was here on the ruling uh David explain uh what what’s going on here with where Xander’s ball is well there’s a number of things going on here first of all we found the ball it’s in bounds the fence to the right is a boundary and when Xander called me in he wanted to know if he was able to get relief from the Tower up here he squatted down looked that way and said well I’ve got an easy punt shot I can easily get this up to the green if that’s not there and so I said yeah it’s I see the hole it’s easy to get you know that’s a that’s a legitimate shot it’s acceptable for the conditions he’s in obviously there’s a lot of things going on here but he has a window to be able to play the ball through this area and that was a very reasonable shot to take on and sitting here looking at it and we’ve got a ball down there I’ve got a four iron I’ve I’ve gotten in here and made a little bitty practice swing there is no doubt in my mind that I would hit this shot because we’re not in a penalty area his only other option would be an unplayable lie and clearly two club links isn’t going to do anything going back online with the flag you’ve got the boundary fence so the only option is to go back to the te and so I think this is a totally justified shot and I’m going to show you how easy it was Xander chaet one of the best players in the world me have it warmed up and I’m going to get this thing out first try Okay so before you do that I just want to make one click clarification here that the camera can see the window he’s got to play through here yes if this ball is 5 6 ft to the left the ruling is completely different over here he’s got a shot that that every tour pro is going to take on and that level of skill is a lot greater than the general public so here he’s getting relief if his ball is 5 ft to the left and that tree is blocking him or he’s got to go through several other bushes to get to where he’s going to that’s an entirely different ruling that’s where it’s not reasonable to play through all that and expect to get relief right and and also the the ruling that took place so the this Shing tower has two guide wires and so the rule is you’ve got to get the ball where you with line of sight with a temporary movable obstruction you get to the point where you can see the flag stick without the wire being in the way you get one Club link from there and you have to drop it in the second and so that’s what got Xander out of these holly bushes the first place completely byy the books exactly what do you think you think I got it David expect nothing left all right and so when I get in here I can freely make my stance so when I stand up if I break a twig that is not a penalty as long as you’re reasonably taking your stance you’re good can you tell me if I’m not reasonably taking my stance you’re doing good all right let’s go here it’s just a little chippy four iron it only has to travel 10 yards boom yes all right thank you very much thanks for watching the PJ Tour on YouTube watch another video right here