It was a very wet start to PGA Championship week as torrential rain bucketed it down on Monday and further rain followed at times throughout Tuesday.
The Quail Hollow weather has led to a soft course that is playing even longer than its official yardage, which should benefit the biggest hitters in the field. A by-product of the wetter conditions means that there was always a risk of mud balls coming into play, but the PGA of America was confident that the course was dry enough to avoid playing 'lift, clean and place.'
"We do not plan to play preferred lies. The playing surfaces are outstanding and are drying by the hour. We are mowing the fairways this evening," the PGA of America said in a statement on Wednesday evening.
"We are looking forward to an exciting opening round to the 107th PGA Championship."
Big championships like to avoid lift, clean and place on the fairways as it allows players to clean their golf balls and place them on perfect lies, while it also means that any records broken are unofficial or at least carry an asterisk.
While the organizers said that the course was drying by the hour, it appeared that both World No.1 Scottie Scheffler and defending champion Xander Schauffele, while playing in the marquee grouping on Thursday morning, experienced mud-balls on the 16th hole.
The pair both found the fairway before their long iron shots hooked well left into the water guarding the green on the brutal 535 yard par 4. It seemed like mud had made its way onto their golf balls and dragged them into the penalty area, with both men making double bogey.
The Sky Sports Golf team had much to say on the potential mud balls, taking the view that implementing lift, clean and place would have done no harm on Thursday.
"Lift clean and place they did it at Baltusrol, Jimmy Walker's year, so it's just one day," Wayne Riley said on Sky Sports Golf.
"Look I'm not here to tell anybody how to run a championship, a great championship such as things but sometimes you're playing the Green Mile and you're having a crack and you're playing with mud on your ball after thumping one down there 312 off the tee. I wonder."
"I agree with you Wayne, I mean I don't think it would have had any mark on the championship by playing it just the first day knowing full well they're supposed to have clear skies the rest of the week," 2002 PGA Champion Rich Beem said.
Renowned coach Claude Harmon III, also on commentary for Sky Sports, took the same view.
"I agree with what you're saying there Beemer, you just don't see guys like Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele from the middle of the fairway hit it 40 yards offline."
Mark Calcavecchia posted on X that he "couldn't believe" the PGA of America did not implement preferred lies and described it as "mud ball city."
