Scottie Scheffler believes PGA Championship chiefs should have allowed preferred lies after days of heavy rain at Quail Hollow. The World No. 1 was one of several stars who were impacted by muddy balls during the first round of the tournament.

Scheffler was paired with Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffeler, who both also struggled. Preferred lies would have allowed players to clean their balls when required, but they were instead told they had to hit every shot as it landed. Scheffler, who ended on two under par, believes having preferred lies would have made it the ‘fairest test’ of the players’ abilities.

He said afterwards: “I think if you’re looking at the purest forms of golf, like if you’re looking to go and play links golf, there’s absolutely no reason on a links golf course you should play the ball up. It doesn’t matter how much rain they get. The course could be flooded under water and the ball is still going to bounce somehow because of the way the turf is.

“In American golf it’s slightly different. When you have overseeded fairways that are not sand capped, there’s going to be a lot of mud on the ball, and that’s just part of it. When you think about the purest test of golf, I don’t personally think that hitting the ball in the middle of the fairway [that] you should get punished for it.

“On a golf course as good conditioned as this one is, this is probably a situation in which it would be the least likely difference in playing it up because most of the lies you get out here are really good. So I understand how a golf purist would say, ‘Oh, play it as it is’. But I don’t think they understand what it’s like literally working your entire life to learn how to hit a golf ball and hit shots and control distance, and all of a sudden, due to a rules decision, it’s completely taken away from you by chance.

“In golf, there’s enough luck through a 72-hole tournament that I don’t think the story should be whether or not the ball is played up or down. I want the purest, fairest test of golf, and maybe the ball today should have been played up.

“I don’t make the rules [and] I deal with what the rules decisions are. I could have let that bother me today, when you get a mud ball and it cost me a couple of shots … but today I was proud of how I stayed in there and didn’t let it get to me.”

Scheffler performed the best of the trio in his group. Schauffeler hit one over par, while Masters champion McIlroy had a horror opening round at three over par.

Senior FIFA figures staged a walk-out in protest over Gianni Infantino’s late arrival at their latest congress in Asuncion, Paraguay. The controversial FIFA president had been forced to apologise after delaying the high-profile meeting several times due to joining Donald Trump’s tour of Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Infantino made a late decision to join U.S. President Trump’s delegation in the Middle East. The meeting of the FIFA Council had already been delayed to Thursday and changed to a virtual event, having initially been scheduled to take place in person on Tuesday. Infantino had been present for meetings between President Trump and Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and the Qatari Emir Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani.

While Infantino was touring with the 78-year-old, representatives from worldwide football associations were holding meetings in his absence in Asuncion. Frustration with his decision to travel to Saudi Arabia and Qatar is said to have boiled over.

In a further delay, Thursday’s meeting was moved back to 12:30pm after Infantino’s flight was held up. Reports this evening suggested that European delegates would walk out during the break after Infantino’s speech to show their displeasure over the situation. However, several members of the FIFA Council ended up leaving as part of the protest.

Among those reported by The Times to have walked out are FA chairwoman Debbie Hewitt and UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin. Several senior members of the congress made their displeasure known as Infantino spoke.

After finally arriving at the FIFA congress, Infantino said: “As president of FIFA, my responsibility is to make decisions in the interests of the organisation. I decided to be the last two days in the Middle East knowing the 2034 World Cup will be in Saudi Arabia and the World Cup in 2022 was in Qatar.

“The ‘25 Club World Cup and ‘26 World Cup will be in the USA, Canada, and Mexico. Some important discussions took place in regard to the World Cup, and I felt that I needed to be there to represent football and all of you.

“We had an issue with our flight, which made this delay happen. Apologies. Sorry, and I am looking forward to spending time with you here.”

Infantino has been FIFA president since 2016 but his management of the global football governing body has split opinion in recent years. He has previously defended his close alliance with President Trump as “critical” due to the USA’s joint-hosting of the 2026 World Cup.

No doubting the star attraction today with Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele off together on the 10th at 1.22pm.

Selected groups:

12pm: Luke Donald (Eng), Padraig Harrington (Ire), Martin Kaymer (Ger).

6:03pm: Tyrrell Hatton (Eng), Adam Scott (Aus), Will Zalatoris (US).

6:14pm: Dustin Johnson (US), Collin Morikawa (US), Justin Thomas (US).

6.25pm: Ludvig Aaberg (Swe), Patrick Reed (US), Jordan Spieth (US).

6:47pm: Bryson DeChambeau (US), Viktor Hovland (Nor), Gary Woodland (US).

7:09pm: Brian Harman (US), Justin Rose (Eng), Cameron Smith (Aus)

Starting at Hole 10:

12:38pm: Rickie Fowler (US), Brooks Koepka (US), Shane Lowry (Ire).

12:49pm: Jason Day (Aus), Tommy Fleetwood (Eng), Phil Mickelson (US).

1pm: Patrick Cantlay (US), Matthew Fitzpatrick (Eng), Jon Rahm (Spa).

1:22pm: Rory McIlroy (NI), Xander Schauffele (US), Scottie Scheffler (US)