‘My goodness’ – Scottie Scheffler stunned as reporter throws rival player under the bus

Patrick Cantlay has been catching strays at the FedEx Cup play-offs, but at least he had Scottie Scheffler to protect him.

World No.24 Cantlay surprisingly found himself namechecked as a symptom of what’s wrong with the new season-ending Tour Championship format, only for the world No.1 to instantly jump to his defence.

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Rule changes have caused controversy with next week’s final 30-man decider no longer using starting strokes.

In the past No.1 Scheffler would have started with a ten-stroke advantage due to his leading points accrued throughout the year, but it’s now a level playing field.

Scheffler was asked about that change during the second play-off event at the BMW Championship, when Cantlay, who has endured a poor season, surprisingly got a name check.

A reporter asked him: “You’ve been pretty clear the last couple years about not being completely satisfied with the season-long race when it comes down to that last event. 

“But the way we have it now, whoever wins the FedEx Cup next week, is that the season-long champion? 

“Could be someone like Patrick Cantlay, for example, which, not to dog on Patrick…”

Scheffler instantly interrupted saying: “We’re just going to name guys now? My goodness.”

Trying to backpedal, the reporter responded: “Is that thing on? You know what I mean.”

Scheffler, though, didn’t completely agree with the sentiment anyway, as he won last year thanks to his ten stroke advantage, despite Colin Morikawa and Sahith Theegala both out-scoring him on the course.

“I think when you look at the FedExCup, I think it’s a greater discussion,” he said. 

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“If you’re going to have a true season-long race, truly the best player every year wins, odds are it’s not going to come to an interesting conclusion in most years.

“I think most years it’s pretty obvious who the Player of the Year is going to be. It’s always up for a small debate, but I think the players for the most part have an understanding of who the best player was for that year each time, and I feel like it’s been like that since I’ve been watching golf.”

McIlroy’s withdrawal

The removal of starting strokes to increase drama has also caused controversy elsewhere too.

Given that No.1 Scheffler and No.2 Rory McIlroy were so far clear on points, both could have missed the first and second events and still made the final 30 play-off without having to worry about starting strokes.

In fact, that’s exactly what McIlroy did for the first play-off event, creating some unhelpful headlines for tournament organisers.

The field was meant to start with 70 players, but began with 69 due to McIlroy deciding not to play the opener.

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Responding to the controversial call, PGA player director Peter Malnati was asked how concerned he was and replied: “Very concerned.”

Asked if the Tour could do anything to stop a repeat, he responded: “I think there is stuff in the works and I’ll leave it at that.”

Fellow director, Webb Simpson, was more sympathetic, adding: “I don’t know Rory’s reason but I totally get it. It’s a hard to thing to fix.”

Despite that withdrawal, McIlroy can still compete for the £15million prize fund on offer next week.