The headlines in the golf world are filled with Jordan Spieth’s name. The reason? The golfer was surprisingly disqualified owing to a rule punishing the golfer for signing an incorrect scorecard. But how could he, a professional in the sport, have done that? Well, it appears Xander Schauffele seems to understand why the unfortunate incident took place.

The 30-year-old was spotted giving an interview post-the-third round on Saturday at the Riviera Country Club a while back. Meanwhile, as he did so, the pro divulged the reason behind a “sick” Spieth’s mistake, all the while calling for a “softening” of the regulations on the PGA Tour!

Xander Schauffele comes out candid on Jordan Spieth’s mistake

When the interviewer asked Schauffele about his opinion regarding the whole situation that transpired, he replied, “It’s part of the tradition of the game.” Adding on, he said, “He[Spieth] knows what happened,” while alluding to the reason behind the blunder at the Genesis Invitational. “He was really sick and he had a rough last hole,” said the golfer as he expressed understanding for his colleague’s situation.

Continuing with the response, the 7-time PGA Tour champ recounted, “I heard he had to go to the restroom and came back like a minute later and the card was wrong.” He also mentioned how Spieth “had to go kind of ask some questions around” after the same. “Maybe there needs to be some sort of softening on the rules,” added Schauffele as he dubbed the whole situation “unfortunate” no less.

Why “unfortunate”? Well, there are two reasons, as per the athlete. One: experiencing something like a disqualification for the mistake a pro like the three-time major champ made unknowingly. Two: forcing a person like Spieth to leave when he is a top golfer in the sport. “He’s a big pull for us, he’s a top 3 pull for us on Tour so it’s not good that he’s not here,” said the 2022 Genesis Scottish Open champ as he took his colleague’s side.

But not everyone took the professional’s side completely. Rory McIlroy was leaning more towards the traditionalist point of view despite expressing his frustration at what happened with his fellow PGA Tour pro.

Rory McIlroy dishes out his verdict

The Northern Irishman did mention how he can see both sides of the picture while conveying his sympathy for the 3-time major champ. However, he was quick to make known his actual stance on the same; “if it’s worked for so long, I don’t think you really need to change it.” Even so, he also couldn’t help but dub the situation “unfortunate.”

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But, on the other hand, the 34-year-old also highlighted the advancements in technology while pushing forward the question of whether such a rule is actually needed in the sport. Nevertheless, what happened has happened, and one can only hope the rest of the event doesn’t see anyone following the suit of Tiger Woods or Spieth.

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