Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler play their OUT card at Wells Fargo Championship

Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler have declared themselves out of their first 'Designated Event' at the Wells Fargo Championship on the PGA Tour. 

Rahm and Scheffler have played in all of the first eight elevated events of the PGA Tour season but they have chosen to play their one 'pass' card at the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Golf Course from May 4-7. 

Scheffler and Rahm have also won half of the eight designated events so far in 2023. 

Rahm of course won The Masters and then finished tied 15th at the RBC Heritage. He took a week off at the Zurich Classic team event and then returned to finish solo second behind Tony Finau in his title defence at the Mexico Open. 

Scheffler finished tied 10th in his title defence at The Masters before going on to record a tie for 11th in the RBC Heritage.

WATCH: RAHM THROWS SHADE AT CADDIE IN FINAL ROUND OF MEXICO OPEN

Field for next week's Wells Fargo Championship: pic.twitter.com/C4gqXLWoIO

— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) April 28, 2023

All of the PGA Tour stars are permitted to skip one of the 17 Designated Events during the course of the season. 

If they skip two tournaments then they receive a 25% deduction in their Player Impact Program (PIP) earnings, a system that rewards the best PGA Tour players for 'generating the most positive interest'. 

Rory McIlroy recently fell foul of this rule as he skipped both the Tournament of Champions at the start of the year and the RBC Heritage, which took place a week after his dismal missed cut at The Masters. 

That decision to skip a second Designated Event has ended up costing McIlroy $3m. 

McIlroy has confirmed his participation in the Wells Fargo Championship, a tournament he has won three times in his PGA Tour career (2010, 2015, 2021).

Hideki Matsuyama has also ruled himself out of the tournament but as a result of his recurring neck injury. 

Matsuyama issued the following statement: 

Max Homa will defend the Wells Fargo Championship having won the event by two strokes in 2022.

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