Scheffler questions mud ball rule after tough PGA Championship round
Scottie Scheffler questioning the fairness of the mud ball rule and how it impacts elite shotmaking.
PGA TOUR
The 2025 PGA Championship, the second major tournament of the season in men’s golf, got off to a great start at Quail Hollow Golf Club in Charlotte, North Carolina as the first round leaderboard is full of players that are seeking their first major title.
Ryan Gerard took the early lead with a 5-under, 66 but ended his round with two bogeys on 17 and 18. But it was Jhonattan Vegas who propelled to the lead after Day 1 with a 7-under 64. Vegas now has a has a two-shot cushion over Gerard.
Cam Davis and Luke Donald are just behind. Donald played a relatively clean round with four birdies and no bogeys and Alex Smalley complimented his round with an eagle on 7.
Defending champion Xander Schauffele settled for a 1-over, 72, and the top-ranked player in the world, Scottie Scheffler, finished his first round at 2-under.
Follow along as USA TODAY Sports hits the highlights of Friday’s second round:
*-started first round on hole No. 10
- 1. Jhonattan Vegas: -8, F
- T2. Matthieu Pavon: -6, F
- T2: Ryo Hisatsune: -6, thru 6*
- T4: Max Homa: -5, F
- T4: Luke Donald: -5, thru 8*
- T4. Alex Smalley -5, thru 7
- T7: Christiaan Bezuidenhout: -4, F
- T7: Michael Thorbjornsen: -4, F
- T7. Ryan Gerard: -5, thru 1*
- T7: Matt Fitzpatrick: -4, thru 6
- T7. Nico Echavarria: -4, thru 6*
You can get the latest leaderboard updates and tee times here.
Where to watch the PGA Championship: TV Channel, streaming Friday
The 2025 PGA Championship will be broadcast by ESPN during the first two rounds on Thursday and Friday, with ESPN and CBS slated to televise the final two rounds on Saturday and Sunday. ESPN+ and Fubo will have streaming coverage of all four rounds at the PGA Championship, while viewers can stream the action on Paramount+ during the weekend coverage.
- Thursday-Friday: 7 a.m.-noon (ESPN+), noon-7 p.m. (ESPN)
- Saturday-Sunday: 8-10 a.m. (ESPN+), 10 a.m.-1 p.m. (ESPN), 1-7 p.m. (CBS, Paramount +) and Fubo (Fubo offers a free trial subscription)
Watch the 2025 PGA Championship with Fubo
World No. 2 Rory McIlroy is two over par after five holes, while World No. 3 Xander Schauffele is one over. Both are striving to make the cut to play over the weekend in this second round.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler sinks a two-foot par putt, remaining at 3-under-par through 6 holes, and is gradually moving up the leaderboard, currently tied for twelfth.
Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune is tied for fourth place after making a two-putt birdie, bringing his score to -5 through seven holes.
Jonathan Vegas made a double bogey on the 18th hole to finish his round at eight under par, maintaining his position at the top of the leaderboard heading into the third round.
Matthieu Pavon finished the second round with a score of 65, placing him in second position on the leaderboard with an overall score of -6.
The World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, World No. 2 Rory McIlroy, and World No. 3 Xander Schauffele have tee’d off for the second round of the PGA Championship.
Aaron Rai ended his day at Quail Hollow dropping a few shots after a bogey on the 16th, but ultimately finished Round 2 with a score of 72 and is still a strong contender at -3.
JJ Spaun had a promising start in the early second round, finishing with a score of 68 and -3 overall, placing him tied for eighth.
Jordan Spieth made a 24-foot birdie on the 8th hole, bringing his score to two-over par with one hole left to play. The projected cut line is one-over, so Spieth needs to perform well on his final hole to advance into the weekend.
World No. 78 Max Homa finished with his lowest career round in a major, scoring 64. He currently sits tied for third with an overall score of -5.
The four-time PGA Tour winner, Jhonattan Vegas, extends his lead by three after a birdie at the 10th. He now has a score of -8 overall through 10.
Jhonattan Vegas nails the right-to-left birdie that extends his lead back to two. Vegas is currently -7 overall through 6.
Yesterday it was turtles and ducks, today a snake makes an appearance to disturb play.
Patton Kizzire has withdrawn from the PGA Championship due to injury, according to the PGA Championship X page, previously known as Twitter.
Max Homa is having a strong start in the second round of the PGA Championship. Starting the day, he made two birdies in the first four holes, finishing the back nine with a total of 30 strokes. He is now seven under for his round today and -5 overall, tied for second place, just one stroke off the lead.
Hatton began the second round strong, making a two-putt for par on the 12th hole and tapping in for bogey on the 14th. He continued his round with a ten-foot birdie on the 17th and is currently tied for second place after 8 holes.
After an impressive performance in the first round, Jhonattan Vegas finished with five birdies in his last six holes, allowing him to claim the top spot on the leaderboard. He is now starting his second round.
Bryson DeChambeau scores a birdie on the 10th hole, while Viktor Hovland scores a birdie on the 11th hole, marking a solid start to the second round.
Erik Van Rooyen makes a 40-foot putt in the second round. He has a long climb ahead and is currently tied for 47th place.
All odds via BetMGM on Thursday, May 14.
- 1. Scottie Scheffler (+350)
- 2. Bryson DeChambeau (+1000)
- 3. Viktor Hovland (+1400)
- T4. Jon Rahm (+1600)
- T4. Ludvig Åberg (+1600)
- T6. Collin Morikawa (+2200)
- T6. Hideki Matsuyama (+2200)
- T6. Tyrell Hatton (+2200)
- 9. Rory McIlroy (+2500)
- T10. Tommy Fleetwood (+3500)
- T10. Cameron Davis (+3300)
Friday will be a little warmer with a high of 90. However, wind will be less of a factor, still coming in from the southwest, but only around 3 to 7 mph. Those winds will persist even into Friday evening, but it is calm enough to not be much of an issue. Once again, no rain is expected. — Jon Hoefling
PGA Championship tee times today
Notable tee times. For a full list of tee times, you can find Thursday’s starts here.
*All times listed are Eastern
Thursday (Hole 1)/Friday (Hole 10) pairings
- 7:00 a.m./12:25 p.m.: Luke Donald, Padraig Harrington, Martin Kaymer
- 7:11 a.m./12:36 p.m.: John Somers, Taylor Moore, David Puig
- 7:22 a.m./12:47 p.m.: Kurt Kitayama, Nic Ishee, Alex Noren
- 7:33 a.m./12:58 p.m.: J.T. Poston, Ryo Hisatsune, Tom Johnson
- 7:44 a.m./1:09 p.m.: Davis Thompson, Bud Cauley, Nico Echavarria
- 7:55 a.m./1:20 p.m.: Harris English, Michael Kim, Thomas Detry
- 8:06 a.m./1:31 p.m.: Stephan Jaeger, Chris Kirk, Robert MacIntyre
- 8:17 a.m./1:42 p.m.: Thorbjørn Olesen, Karl Vilips, Laurie Canter
- 8:28 a.m./1:53 p.m.: Si Woo Kim, Sam Stevens, Rico Hoey
- 8:39 a.m./2:04 p.m.: Bobby Gates, Lee Hodges, Ben Griffin
- 8:50 a.m./2:15 p.m.: Thriston Lawrence, Nick Dunlap, Harry Hall
- 9:01 a.m./2:26 p.m.: Greg Koch, Marco Penge, Ryan Gerard
- 9:12 a.m./2:37 p.m.: Dylan Newman, Daniel van Tonder, Victor Perez
- 12:30 p.m./7:00 a.m.: Michael Kartrude, Sami Valimaki, Jake Knapp
- 12:41 p.m./7:11 a.m.: Erik van Rooyen, Michael Block, Mackenzie Hughes
- 12:52 p.m./7:22 a.m.: Lucas Glover, Max Homa, Joaquin Niemann
- 1:03 p.m./7:33 a.m.: Tyrrell Hatton, Will Zalatoris, Adam Scott
- 1:14 p.m./7:44 a.m.: Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson, Collin Morikawa
- 1:25 p.m./7:55 a.m.: Jordan Spieth, Patrick Reed, Ludvig Åberg
- 1:36 p.m./8:06 a.m.: Hideki Matsuyama, Wyndham Clark, Tom Kim
- 1:47 p.m./8:17 a.m.: Bryson DeChambeau, Viktor Hovland, Gary Woodland
- 1:58 p.m./8:28 a.m.: Sergio Garcia, Daniel Berger, Russell Henley
- 2:09 p.m./8:39 a.m.: Justin Rose, Cameron Smith, Brian Harman
- 2:20 p.m./8:50 a.m.: Brandon Bingaman, Davis Riley, Sungjae Im
- 2:31 p.m./9:01 a.m.: Takumi Kanaya, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Tom McKibbin
- 2:42 p.m./9:12 a.m.: Keita Nakajima, Timothy Wiseman, Beau Hossler
Thursday (Hole 10)/Friday (Hole 1) pairings
- 7:05 a.m./12:30 p.m.: John Parry, Justin Hicks, Ryan Fox
- 7:16 a.m./12:41 p.m.: Andre Chi, Patrick Fishburn, Seamus Power
- 7:27 a.m./12:52 p.m.: Max McGreevy, Sahith Theegala, Sepp Straka
- 7:38 a.m./1:03 p.m.: Brooks Koepka, Rickie Fowler, Shane Lowry
- 7:49 a.m./1:14 p.m.: Phil Mickelson, Tommy Fleetwood, Jason Day
- 8:00 a.m./1:25 p.m.: Jon Rahm, Patrick Cantlay, Matt Fitzpatrick
- 8:11 a.m./1:36 p.m.: Corey Conners, Min Woo Lee, Rasmus Højgaard
- 8:22 a.m./1:47 p.m.: Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Scottie Scheffler
- 8:33 a.m./1:58 p.m.: Tony Finau, Nicolai Højgaard, Max Greyserman
- 8:44 a.m./2:09 p.m.: Andrew Novak, Keegan Bradley, Maverick McNealy
- 8:55 a.m./2:20 p.m.: Akshay Bhatia, Denny McCarthy, Sam Burns
- 9:06 a.m./2:31 p.m.: John Catlin, Garrick Higgo, Jesse Droemer
- 9:17 a.m./2:42 p.m.: Eugenio Chacarra, Rupe Taylor, Justin Lower
- 12:25 p.m./7:05 a.m.: Keith Mitchell, Bob Sowards, Adam Hadwin
- 12:36 p.m./7:16 a.m.: Eric Cole, Eric Steger, Cam Davis
- 12:47 p.m./7:27 a.m.: Austin Eckroat, Brian Bergstol, Jacob Bridgeman
- 12:58 p.m./7:38 a.m.: Niklas Norgaard, Byeong Hun An, J.J. Spaun
- 1:09 p.m./7:49 a.m.: Patrick Rodgers, Nick Taylor, Dean Burmester
- 1:20 p.m./8:00 a.m.: Joe Highsmith, Cameron Young, Aaron Rai
- 1:31 p.m./8:11 a.m.: Tom Hoge, Matthieu Pavon, Taylor Pendrith
- 1:42 p.m./8:22 a.m.: Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, Patton Kizzire, Matt McCarty
- 1:53 p.m./8:33 a.m.: Tyler Collet, Jimmy Walker, Richard Bland
- 2:04 p.m./8:44 a.m.: Jason Dufner, Michael Thorbjornsen, Shaun Micheel
- 2:15 p.m./8:55 a.m.: Rafael Campos, Ryan Lenahan, Matt Wallace
- 2:26 p.m./9:06 a.m.: Jhonattan Vegas, Elvis Smylie, Brian Campbell
- 2:37 p.m./9:17 a.m.: Kevin Yu, Larkin Gross, John Keefer
All odds via BetMGM on Thursday, May 14.
- 1. Scottie Scheffler (+350)
- 2. Bryson DeChambeau (+1000)
- 3. Viktor Hovland (+1400)
- T4. Jon Rahm (+1600)
- T4. Ludvig Åberg (+1600)
- T6. Collin Morikawa (+2200)
- T6. Hideki Matsuyama (+2200)
- T6. Tyrell Hatton (+2200)
- 9. Rory McIlroy (+2500)
- T10. Tommy Fleetwood (+3500)
- T10. Cameron Davis (+3300)
The National Weather Service reports that the weather in the Charlotte area is expected to be mostly sunny, with a high of 89 degrees. Winds will be gusting at 5 to 10 mph later in the afternoon.
