Did Scottie Scheffler move his ball during The Players? "He is the WORST!"

Golf fans were furiously debating whether Scottie Scheffler caused his ball to move during the third round of The Players Championship on the PGA Tour.

Ben Smith

13 Mar 2023

Did Scottie Scheffler move his ball during The Players? "He is the WORST!"

Golf fans were furiously debating whether Scottie Scheffler caused his golf ball to move before playing a stroke in the third round of The Players Championship.

At this point you'll know Scheffler claimed his sixth PGA Tour victory at TPC Sawgrass in commanding fashion.

Scheffler started somewhat slowly during the final round but then put his foot on the pedal from No. 8.

The 26-year-old made five consecutive birdies to pull away from the field and carded a final round of 69 to claim the win by five strokes.

But this moment appeared to capture the attention of some on social media. Scheffler is by a fairway bunker in what looked like a juicy lie on No. 7.

His tee shot with his TaylorMade Stealth Plus was miscued and found a watery grave. His third off the tee also wasn't great, going left once again.

Scheffler walked up to his ball and assessed the lie. He bent over and reached out to his ball with his right hand, removing a loose impediment.

Some fans were absolutely certain that Scheffler caused his ball to move. Scheffler went on to make a bogey five on the hole.

Take a look here:

He moved his ball when he touched it. pic.twitter.com/jTPh23llYz
— James Khan (@JamesKh44009381) March 11, 2023

It was pointed out that had this moment involved Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Reed it would've been blasted all over the media.

Comments criticising Scheffler included:

"Every week I swear this guy does something dodgy it's becoming a worrying trend I don't know what the ruling is on this but no matter what the rules say there's no way that shouldn't at least be a penalty - people have gained strokes for much less."

"What is he doing?"

"Remember this if the cheating dog wins tomorrow."

"Scheffler is the absolute f***ing worst."

"Give Scottie Scheffler a penalty @PGATour."

"Imagine if this was P Reed?"

"DQ!"

"Damn, the ball clearly moved!"

"I watched it live, and I immediately thought that he moved it. I can't believe the TV broadcast did not mention."

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Comments defending Scheffler included:

"It's allowed to oscillate but cannot move and rest in a different spot. No penalty."

"Insufficient evidence to confirm it even moved. His hand is in front of the ball. And I'm not even a Scottie fan."

"His finger goes in front of it, never touched it."

"I could not tell that the ball moves. If he were trying to move it, he didn't improve the lie. There is no comparison to this and Patrick Reed who is known outside of the ropes for cheating his whole career."

"Stop! His ball didn't move."

"I don't think it moves. I think it is the shadow moving across the ball that makes it look like it's moving. We need a few more angles to be sure."

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