Tuesday night featured a TGL doubleheader, with two-time major champion Xander Schauffele’s New York Golf Club playing both events. But a strange incident occurred in the first game, when Schauffele was officially awarded a mulligan.
At a critical moment in the game, a strange situation and an unusual decision led to a mulligan. The good news for Schauffele is that the mulligan gave him another chance to play the bad ball. The bad news is that his mulligan didn’t go well, and may have cost his team the game.
Here’s what you need to know.
Xander Schauffele misses a rare TGL mulligan opportunity
In the first round of TGL on Tuesday night, Schauffele’s New York team took on Bay Golf Club. Bay Golf Club got off to a hot start, winning the first three holes.
But New York fought back and tied the score 3-3 in the 11th hole.
When the match reached 13, Schauffele went up against Ludwig Aberg in singles. Schauffele’s shot ended up in the right-hand post, which is where things quickly went sideways.
As Schauffele prepared to hit his bunker shot, Bay Golf Club’s Wyndham Clark decided to drop the Hammer. If New York accepts the Hammer, the hole will be worth two points. If they refuse, they will have to hole out and give Bay Golf one point.
With Aberg sitting comfortably on the green, Schauffele’s teammates rejected the Hammer. But it was too late. Schauffele continued to hit his bunker shot, and it didn’t go well at all. His ball failed to escape the sand.
That’s when the law enforcement officer stepped in to give Schauffele a redo.
After a video review, the official determined that Schauffele had already made contact with his ball when the Hammer was thrown. Teams are not allowed to use the Hammer once the opponent has prepared the ball.
So the executive decided that the Hammer would be eliminated (and New York’s decision to reject it). Instead of dropping the hole, Schauffele would get a mulligan on his bunker shot.
But Schauffele failed to escape the cellar again on his second attempt. What is the result? New York lost the hole anyway.
“Yes, it hit the net badly for us. We were going to reject it anyway, then I hit a bad shot, they didn’t even have a chance to throw the hammer, it got worse,” explained Schauffele after the round. Maybe if I hit it a third time, it would be better.
In his post-match press conference, Clark blamed the ref.
“So Derek [Stafford]our lawyer, usually puts out his hand, as if he is making a signal, and you can no longer throw it. I looked at him, and he hadn’t done it yet, and he nodded saying you can do it. Admittedly, Xander was standing on the ball. “I could see why they called it that, but at the same time, the lawyer there gave us permission,” argued Clark.
Stafford, the referee in question, was officiating NBA games. Clark’s teammate Shane Lowry suggested that if he had made that mistake in an NBA game, it would have worked out very differently.
“If he made that call in his NBA days, I’m not sure the players would be this good,” Lowry said. He continued. “If we had tied the hole, I would have…” before Clark cut him off to finish his thought.
“I would be upset,” Clark said. “Even if we’re lost. Oh, my god, we might be thrown out because of the charge.”
Yes, Bay Golf Club won the hole despite the mulligan decision. Better yet, they went on to beat New York 5-3.
Unfortunately for New York, the second game was not kind to them either. They took a whooping 9-2 at the hands of Boston Golf Club’s Keegan Bradley to complete the night’s entertainment.
