Scottie Scheffler to golf reporter: "I kind of forgot about that"

Scottie Scheffler says he doesn't believe allowing golfers to use rangefinders will have a dramatic effect on pace-of-play on the PGA Tour. 

Scheffler told reporters on Tuesday before this week's RBC Heritage he completely forgot players will be allowed to use them for the next six weeks. 

The Tour are allowing players to use them for a trial period to see whether golfers can get round the courses much quicker. 

"I kind of forgot about that," Scheffler said when asked about the distance-measuring devices. 

He added: "I'll trust Ted what he wants to do. I don't really care. He's the one that gets the number. I'm sure we'll have it in the bag.

"We've been using it PGA [Championship] the last couple years, haven't we? Is it going to help pace of play? Maybe a few minutes. 

"Will it be anything significant? No. This tournament, what affects the pace of play is walking the golf course. 

"I think we're playing twosomes all week, so it will go from a five hour round to maybe four hours or less.

"When you see the biggest changes in pace of play, it all comes from going from three guys to two guys in a pairing. It's just easier to get around the golf course.

"Also, the distance walking from green to tee is a big factor as well if you're going to save 15, 20 minutes off the round. 

"This golf course is pretty simple in terms of getting around."

Pace-of-play has always been a hot topic on the PGA Tour but even more so in 2025 with some TV broadcasts dragging out beyond five hours. 

Scheffler said be believes the pace-of-play debate is 'funny'. 

"I think people want to watch exciting golf," he said.  

"I think that's what it's all about. Let's say if we do all these changes and we save 20 minutes off of a round of golf. 

"Is somebody going to sit down on the couch on Sunday and go, well, I didn't have five hours to watch a round of golf, but I've got four hours and 40 minutes. Now I'm in!

"I think, if we're going to spend a lot of time and energy, I think where I would want to spend it is get more people involved in the game of golf, more people able to come and play. 

"It's a great game. It's a great sport. You learn a lot of life lessons playing golf.

"What's most important for me as a player, where I want to spend the most time and energy specifically in the game of golf is getting people involved. 

"I've met some of my best friends in the whole world playing the game of golf. It's a really special game that I think more people should want to play."

"It was such an emotional day for him"

Scheffler started his 2025 season a month late after he cut his palm last December on the stem of a wine glass.

He still was in contention to win the first men's major of the year at last week's Masters. 

The two-time green jacket winner eventually finished three shots behind McIlroy and Justin Rose. 

Rory McIlroy finally achieved a lifetime's ambition by winning his maiden Masters and also completed the career grand slam. 

"It was such an emotional day for him," Scheffler said when asked if there were any highlights that stood out for him. 

"I kind of just tried to stay out of the way and basically get the jacket on without embarrassing him or myself.

"I got to watch the whole celebration. I watched the finish. It was really cool for me to be able to see because I don't have the understanding of what it's like to be asked about the career grand slam.

"But I have a small understanding of what it's like to be asked, hey, you accomplished this, but you haven't accomplished that. It can be very taxing on people sometimes.

"It was cool to be able to see Rory get the job done. Definitely from the outside it looked a lot more like relief than anything. 

"Rory has accomplished everything in the game of golf, and that was really the last thing for him to accomplish. The guy has won FedExCup, the Players, all four majors. 

"Maybe the only other thing would be the Olympics is what he would want to win.

"So for him, it was really cool for me to be there in that moment. He's a good friend of mine. 

"To be able to congratulate him and just see the joy on him and his family was really cool."