Tour pro calls out Open champion Xander Schauffele for 'abusing' golf rule change

English tour pro Eddie Pepperell has called out Open champion Xander Schauffele for 'abusing' a golf rule change. 

That rule change? 

Being allowed to tap down spike marks on the green. 

The golf rules were changed in 2019 permitting players to repair any damage on the green, such as spike marks, ball-marks, indentations from a club or flagstick plus any animal damage. 

And Pepperell has claimed he routinely sees Schauffele tap down spike marks inside three feet 'that simply cannot be there'. 

The golfer stressed he was not accusing the 2024 Open champion of cheating when the topic was discussed in the most recent edition of The Chipping Forecast.

He actually believes the American, 30, will now knock off a few more major championships as he is 'the complete player'. 

But he does reckon Schauffele is one of the only players out there that is very particular in this regard. 

Pepperell told the podcast: "The only thing that I've got negatively to say about Xander Schauffele and you may have picked up on this, is how often he just bangs down spike marks that simply cannot be there from inside three feet. 

"Now that is something that, I'm afraid, the rule change is being abused there I'm afraid to say."

Asked to explain further, Pepperell said: "Well, obviously in golf, you never used to be able to tap down spike marks and they changed the rule to be able to tap down spike marks which I was never really in favour of. 

"But they've made the decision but now you see, if you watch Xander closely, he does it all the time. 

"As soon as he has a putt inside three foot he'll go and put quite a lot of pressure down with his putter and, more than just tap a spike mark, he's actually putting quite a lot of impact on the ground. 

"That's the one reason why [I believe] that rule should never have changed."

Pepperell stressed that he was not accusing the golfer of breaking the rules. 

"I'm not accusing the guy of cheating," he said. "And I'm also not saying that if he wasn't doing that that he wouldn't still be winning these tournaments. 

"I think he would, but, it's just... you don't see any other player as frequently as he does it." 

It was put to Pepperell that perhaps Schauffele does it out of habit. 

"Strange habit," Pepperell offered. 

Schauffele claimed the 2024 Open Championship in emphatic fashion last Sunday. 

The golfer, who won the PGA Championship at Valhalla earlier in the year, held off an almighty challenge from England's Justin Rose to lift the claret jug. 

Rose was devasted and his caddie Fooch offered an hilarious one-liner about Schauffele.  

An emotional Schauffele said his caddie told him he was on the verge of puking as they reached the 72nd hole with a three-shot lead. 

Schauffele then fired a message to his critics in his winner's news conference. 

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