Scottie Scheffler Praises Rory McIlroy’s Pace Of Play

With the BMW Championship wrapping up, the player count for the next event in the FedEx Cup is about to go down.  Quite a lot has happened during the championship. McIlroy is back in the game after a break in preparation, and Akshay Bhatia made a hole-in-one.  Something that Scottie Scheffler took note of was Rory McIlroy’s pace of play, which continues to be on point.

Pace Of Play In 2025

This year has been the slow-play crackdown for the PGA.  It may not be enforced enough for the players or the fans, but it is still being enforced.  Penalties have been rare since the nineties, but one was handed out in an event in Peru.  There have been calls for more rule changes from the governing bodies during The Open.  Rory McIlroy had his own issue with slow play during the Masters.  There, Akshay Bhatia took three minutes to line up a shot.  Some even say McIlroy was distracted by the time it took for him to line up the shot.

The crackdown has been criticized by players like Scottie Scheffler.  Scheffler believes that a crackdown won’t do much for times, at best bringing it down by twenty minutes.  He says that the real problem is the field size, in both player count and the literal size of the field.  However, bringing down the player count is its own can of worms, as pointed out by Lucas Glover.  This is why players and fans alike are relieved to see Rory McIlroy play fast.

Scheffler On McIlroy

McIlroy and Scheffler have a bit of a friendly rivalry going.  Both are vying for the No. 1 position on the OWGR.  Currently occupied by Scheffler, with McIlroy coming in at second.  Despite Scheffler not caring for the pace of play rules, he thinks that it is admirable to see McIlroy play as fast as he does.  During a press conference, Scheffler said the following.

“Yeah, it’s always fun playing with Rory; we draw a nice crowd. The crowd did a great job of cheering us both on.  He’s a great pairing. He plays fast, he plays well, and we had a good time out there.“

Fans and players agree that playing slowly is seen as rude to everyone else involved in the game.  Even though Scheffler criticized the very idea of a crackdown, he still sees the value of just playing fast.  Which is why he brought it up when talking about McIlroy.  

McIlroy And Scheffler

Seeing this level of sportsmanship between the two players is a great sight for the fans.  They can do their best to beat each other on the field, but the world’s No. 1 and 2 will still praise each other’s play at the end of a match, with a hearty “good game.”  It is also good to see them encouraging players to keep their speed up.  Keeping it an admirable thing to do during a tournament for the sake of not only themselves, but everyone involved.  The two will most likely keep it up as they battle each other for the world No. 1 position, and perhaps even as they age out of the main tour in the coming decades.