Davis Riley’s moment of incredible honesty was the biggest talking point to emerge from an eventful Saturday at the PGA Tour’s The CJ Cup Byron Nelson where Scottie Scheffler leads by a commanding eight shots.
The world No.1 fired a five-under par round of 66 to move to -23 through three rounds after having to wait a long time for roughly after the half field to conclude their second round’s because of Friday’s six-hour weather delay.
Scheffler made seven birdies and battled fading daylight on the back nine to be in command in his home state of Texas as he chases his first win of the year.
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But among those who had to play more than 18 holes for the day was Riley, who almost fell below the cut line after self-reporting for a two-shot penalty on the 17th hole, the eighth of his second round.
This week’s tournament is one of the events where the PGA Tour is allowing players to use range finders to help improve pace of play, and Riley became the first player to receive a penalty for incorrect use of the measuring device.
Players are prohibited from using the slope number on the range finder, only the distance, and Riley spoke to a rules official at the par-3 17th stadium hole at TPC Craig Ranch in Dallas after seeing the slope figure appear on his device.
“Unfortunately, it was just kind of one of those moments where your heart sinks a little bit, like you’re just throwing away two shots,” Riley said.
“We certainly have a trial period here with this, and I know the USGA is trying to do something about the range finder and the pace of play.”
Riley’s confession was a throwback to the final of the 2013 US Junior Amateur when he self-reported a two-shot penalty in his loss to Scheffler.
On that occasion, Riley’s ball moved as he addressed his birdie putt at the 16th hole and the penalty resulted in a bogey, handing a 3&2 victory to the future two-time Masters champion.
But this time, the American was rewarded as the golf gods shined upon him as he drained a near 12-foot eagle putt at the final hole of his second round to make the cut on the number at -5.
Afterwards, Riley, who is -8 for the tournament following his third round, insisted that the integrity of the game always comes first.
“It’s a gentleman’s game. That’s just something, when you start out with that, that’s the integrity of the game knowing guys are going to keep that there,” he said. “You kind of have to have that same trust as if guys, what happened to me today, have the security to say, ‘Hey, I shot this, and it was accidentally on slope.’”
But Riley also stressed that he would like to see the Tour do more digging into the use of range finders, to avoid a similar situation deciding who will lift the trophy.
“I think there can be some more, a deeper look into this, just because I know this has happened a numerous amount of times,” Riley said, referring to other tours allowing range finders.
“I’d hate to see something happen coming down the stretch and you pull out a range finder, and it ends up a two-stroke penalty and costs the tournament.”
Scheffler meanwhile dismissed concerns about finishing in the dark, saying it will benefit him in Sunday’s final round as he looks to close out victory.
He said coming down the last as the sun sets was a throwback to his childhood where he would try to cram in as many holes as light would be allow, and his junior days were on his mind post-round when asked about what a win would mean to him.
“It would mean a lot. This tournament has been good to me over the years. It was my first professional start in 2014. They gave me a spot when I was in high school,” Scheffler said.
“Had a great week. This tournament means a lot to me. I grew up coming out here to watch. Yeah, tomorrow should be a fun day and a good opportunity for me to go out and have a good round and hopefully win a tournament.”
Scheffler’s eight-shot lead is the biggest entering a final round since Rory McIlroy at the 2011 US Open, and no PGA Tour player has ever lost when holding a lead of more than six shots after 54 holes.
Rookie Karl Vilips is the best placed of the Australians as he sits one shot behind Riley following a third round of 69.
Cam Davis is two shots back from Vilips, while Aaron Baddeley and Harrison Endycott both missed the cut.
