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PGA winner says his driver didn’t pass inspection either

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — For all the attention Rory McIlroy received for his driver failing to pass inspection at the PGA Championship, Scottie Scheffler added a surprising wrinkle after he won.

His driver failed the test, too.

It added to context badly missing in the original report. The PGA of America said it routinely and randomly asks the USGA to test driver heads to make sure the constant shots have not made the faces too thin to exceed limits of a trampoline effect.

The PGA of America said one-third of the 156-man field had their drivers test. That included the eventual winner, Scheffler, who wasn’t surprised by the result of the test.

“My driver did fail me this week. We had a feeling that it was going to be coming because I’ve used that driver for over a year. I was kind of fortunate for it to last that long,” Scheffler said.

McIlroy never spoke to the media the entire week when the PGA Championship began.

Random testing occurs routinely on the PGA Tour and the majors. Xander Schauffele said he asked for a test earlier this year when he put an old driver back in play.

Schauffele believes it shouldn’t be random. “Test everybody,” he said.

The PGA of America said the testing is to protect players who might not be aware when the driver faces start to get thin. This isn’t a question of intent.

Scheffler sided with Schauffele’s line of thinking.

“I would argue that if we’re going to test the drivers, we need to be even more robust in the way we test them,” Scheffler said. “That was a conversation I had with one of the rules officials. If it’s something we’re going to take seriously, I feel like we’re almost going halfway with it right now.”

Scheffler said going to a new driver was “no big deal” because he’s had to do it before and he had been working with the manufacturer at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson two weeks ago because they knew it was about to surpass limits.

Scheffler lost a five-shot lead on the front nine by missing so many shots to the left. Was that a product of the new driver?

“No, I think that was my fault,” he said with a laugh.

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