For Scottie Scheffler, the mantra is simple: if you hit a good shot, the game should reward you, and if you hit a bad shot, the game should punish you. That’s pretty easy to grasp. But he’s also an advocate of courses providing “fair” tests to their roster. Ahead of the 2025 Travelers Championship, Scheffler said on Wednesday, “That’s what we look for in golf courses, in terms of you want good shots to be rewarded and bad shots to be punished. It’s as simple as that.” But that’s the thing, golf is an “inherently unfair” game. It definitely doesn’t care about comfort, and even popular golf insiders agree on that.
On the recent episode of Fried Egg Golf, Andy Johnson and Brendan Porath discussed Scottie Scheffler’s comments regarding what he considers a “fair test” on the PGA Tour. Johnson begins, “I think he [Scheffler] needs to, he needs to grasp that golf is like a game that’s inherently unfair…” Johnson continues, “because of this overriding theory with pro golfers, this exact theory, we get just such mediocre setups because they’re so afraid of players thinking they might be unfair, that we never get to see players pushed to hit great shots.”
And you don’t need to look too far to understand his points either. Look at the host of the 2025 Travelers Championship, TPC River Highlands. River Highlands is relatively short by Tour standards, measuring just over 6,800 yards. It features wide fairways, welcoming greens, and numerous birdie opportunities. Players often post low scores here, with Sunday leaderboards frequently showcasing rounds of 62, 63, and Jim Furyk’s historic 58. Since 2016, winning scores have typically ranged from 17 to 23 under par. So, yes, if you played your swings right, you will get your low scores.
But, hey, does that mean the PGA Tour’s courses are watered down? Scottie Scheffler may not but Johnson does feel so, “And I think that’s where my, you know, like, this is the theory and the overriding thought on tour that makes the tour’s week-to-week product a little bit watered down, because we can’t put a whole location on more than one and a half percent slope. We can’t do that.”
Scottie Scheffler opens the third round of the Travelers Championship with a triple-bogey 7. It has been 300 days since his last triple bogey on TOUR (No. 10/R4/2024 BMW Championship).
— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) June 21, 2025
To substantiate his points, Johnson mentions the Oakmont Country Club and how brutal it was for the golfers. He isn’t wrong when you look at the numbers. According to the USGA, the course rating is 78.1 with a slope rating of 150. If that doesn’t sound brutal, the first round of the 2025 U.S. Open featured rolling greens in the upper 14s on the Stimpmeter, with the rough cut to 5.25 inches. That’s a lot.
After that, take into account another thing: the other kind of stats. The 2025 U.S. Open statistics from Oakmont Country Club are shocking, especially the number of three-putts recorded. With a staggering 378 three-putts in the first 36 holes, Oakmont’s greens stand out as the most challenging on tour this year, far surpassing tough courses like Torrey Pines and Quail Hollow, which had 242 and 208 three-putts, respectively. But this isn’t the first time that a PGA Tour course has attracted attention for being easy.
The PGA National drew heavy criticism from pros and fans alike
The early-season trouble for the PGA Tour started with the PGA National course. In particular, the PGA National’s Champion Course, historically one of the toughest on the PGA Tour, faced criticism during the 2025 Cognizant Classic due to unexpectedly low scores. For instance, take Jake Knapp’s record-setting 12-under 59, which highlighted the course’s vulnerability, with 13 players finishing the morning round at 6 under or better. Moreover, factors such as soft conditions from recent rains, an offseason overseed with Ryegrass, and minimal wind contributed to this scoring surge.
In the early going, the scoring average reached an unbelievable 3.32 strokes under par. For reference, the easiest regular PGA Tour course is TPC Craig Ranch, home of the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, which historically boasts a scoring average of 2.76 strokes under par. Therefore, PGA National in Round 1 played more than half a shot easier than the easiest course on Tour. Players like Billy Horschel and Jordan Spieth voiced their concerns about the overseeding.
Horschel criticized the lack of penal rough, stating, “The overseed has—the rough is not long enough. It’s not penal enough when you miss the fairway.” He further expressed a desire for the course to revert to its traditional Bermuda grass, saying, “I really wish we would just play this as a straight Bermuda… it is unfortunate because… the condition of the course is very scorable.”
Overall, the first-round scoring average of 3.32 strokes under par set an unprecedented record, especially when compared to previous years, where scoring averages typically hovered around par or above, such as +1.82 in 2020 and +2.05 in 2018. This situation raised significant concerns about the course’s reputation as a challenging venue.
Well, there goes another statement against Scottie Scheffler when it comes to the playability and ease of a course on the Tour.
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