When Scottie Scheffler hit his second shot into the 17th grandstand, questions immediately arose about the controversial relief he received. In the rules of golf, if a rules official sees that the ball entered the grandstand, a player can obtain free relief because it is a temporary immovable object. Scheffler got free relief and managed to score a birdie on 17 to keep his Open Championship aspirations alive.
Scheffler bogeyed 18 and failed to defend his Open Championship title at Royal Birkdale. Ryan Fox eventually became Champion at ten-under par. Even if Scheffler birdied 18, the situation may not have mattered.
While Scheffler did end up bogeying on 18 to take him out of contention, the conversation about the ruling on 17 continues following the tournament. Ryan Lavner spoke about this on his golf channel podcast with Rex Hoggard.
Scottie Scheffler’s Open Championship Creates Rules Controversy
GettyWhile Scheffler obviously did not attempt to manipulate the rules, TIO relief continues to plague golf tournaments as players rightfully take advantage.
Lavner said, “We have to go back to 17 because this was ridiculous. He hits a blind shot and hits it way left. Scottie was telling fans do not find this golf ball, because they were virtually certain – and that’s the rule – you need to be virtually certain that a ball was in an area. How in 2026 can you not find a golf ball and yet receive free relief and have a great look at the green and end up making birdie?”
If Scheffler was playing Royal Birkdale outside of a championship setting, there obviously would not be any structures to hit into. That means his ball would’ve been lost under normal circumstances. The rule defeats the spirit of major championship golf.
The Ruling Violates the Spirit of Major Championship Golf
GettyThe situation Scheffler brought himself into is not unique for tournament golf, but it does remind the golf world of what may need to change.
Lavner continued, “TIO relief at the Championship level needs to be examined because it makes no sense whatsoever that, because you have an area surrounding a hospitality tent, you don’t even need to find a golf ball for what was a very errant shot for that point in the Championship. It was not necessarily that Scottie was using the rule to his advantage, I’m just saying the rule is absolutely outrageous to have free relief even if you don’t find your golf ball.”
In other tournaments, players sometimes intentionally hit wayward balls in specific areas to take advantage of the relief given. An example of this is the sixth hole at Pebble Beach. Players will sometimes hit their drives towards the cart path on top of the left hill instead of the fairway in order to get a better angle of the green. These types of situations soil the intent of the course architects. In this situation, Scheffler did not even need to find his ball to obtain relief, making him take advantage of a poor shot just because of the rules.
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