Rory McIlroy’s driver failed a routine USGA test at the PGA Championship earlier this month, but the violation is more common than people think, according to Xander Schauffele
06:58 ET, 29 May 2025Updated 08:46 ET, 30 May 2025
Xander Schauffele spoke out on driver testing(Image: Getty Images)
Xander Schauffele has played down the severity of a PGA Tour player failing the USGA’s routine driver tests, after Rory McIlroy was forced into a change at the PGA Championship.
McIlroy was required to swap out his driver on the eve of the second major of the season at Quail Hollow, before going on to struggle with what is usually one of his most reliable clubs in the bag. The Northern Irishman opted not to address the reports surrounding the test, skipping media after all four rounds in Charlotte.
He was not the only one to fall to the fate of a non-conforming club face, with world No. 1 and eventual champion Scottie Scheffler also revealing after his win that he needed to bring in a new driver.
Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes offer fans first glimpse at new business venture Tiger Woods’ son Charlie shows true colors with comments after winning tournament
And the third member of the top-three players in the world, Schauffele, believes the testing failings have been blown out of proportion. “It really is normal,” The Open champion said at the Memorial in response to McIlroy and Scheffler’s results.
“I didn’t even understand sort of the public’s negative opinion on it. It didn’t really register in my head because I know, one, it’s, like, we hit our drivers a lot, so, like, they creep and then they go over a line. We don’t know when the line — we have no clue.
“Unless our driver physically cracks and you start hitting these knuckle balls off the tee that kind of disperse everywhere, then you know your driver’s broken… I think the trickiest part is that no driver’s the same and no shaft is the same.
Xander Schuffele is at the Memorial Tournament(Image: Getty Images)
“They can have all the same writing and logos on them, but the makeup of each head and shaft is slightly different. A lot better now than they used to be, but it’s just hard for us to sort of — we have a trusty, our trusty club, and then you take it out and switch it.
“Same thing with a putter, you know. No club is exactly the same. So as soon as you make us change, there’s a little bit of a grace period where you have to get used to it.”
Schauffele’s comments came after former U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover accused some of his fellow players of cheating the system. Glover revealed this week that he felt players were often sending their spare driver to be tested instead of the one they put in the bag.
“I’ve been trying to think all morning and all day how to say this without sounding like it’s gonna sound,” he said on his SiriusXM radio show. “Most guys don’t give them their real driver anyway.
“They give them their backup just in case. No, it’s true. And the testing is the way it is, why, and again, I know a lot of guys, they keep two drivers in their bag just in case. ‘Hey, oh, yeah, it’s this one. It’s this one right here. Yeah, do this, test this one.'”
Schauffele was then asked if he felt there was a feeling among fans of cheating when it came to players using non-confirming drivers, to which he replied: “From what I’ve heard when I’ve talked to some guys, it seemed that way, which I didn’t think was really right.
