Golf Channel / NBC Sports / Johnson Wagner
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‘Mud balls‘ were a huge story on Day 1 of the 2025 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow, even more so after the world’s #1-ranked golfer Scottie Scheffler spoke out about it during his post-round press conference. Later that evening, Golf Channel’s Johnson Wagner attempted to hit he course and demonstrate how to properly hit ‘mud balls’ but only ended up proving Scottie’s point.
During his press conference, Scheffler said “I understand how a golf purist would be, oh, play it as it lies. But I don’t think they understand what it’s like literally working your entire life to learn how to hit a golf ball and control it and hit shots and control distance, and all of a sudden, due to a rules decision that is completely taken away from us by chance.”
Scottie later went on to add “But like I said, I don’t make the rules. I deal with what the rules decisions are. I could have let that bother me today when you got a mud ball and it cost me a couple shots. It cost me possibly two shots on one hole, and if I let that bother me, it could cost me five shots the rest of the round.”… That’s a pretty damning assessment of the Quail Hollow Club conditions coming from the #1 golfer in the world at the PGA Championship which is supposed to be the purest test of a golfer’s skills. What came next was hilarious.
Johnson Wagner, who attempted to recreate shots at last year’s PGA Championship while he suffered from the dreaded ‘yips’ and who tried (and failed) to recreate Bryson DeChambeau’s iconic bunker shot at the U.S. Open went out on the course at dusk to try and demonstrate how to hit ‘mud balls.’
The video is also on TikTok for those who would prefer that medium over YouTube:
@nbcgolf Johnson Wagner shows how to navigate mud balls in the 16th fairway similar to what the field faced during round one. 🔎 📺 Golf Central Live From the #PGAChamp #golf #pgachampionship #mudball #johnsonwagner #demo #tutorial
Johnson Wagner, a former PGA Tour player with 7 professional wins, started by conceding that a mud ball is a ‘knuckle ball’ but then he dives into the predictability of it. Wagner says “I know if (the mud) is on the right it’s gonna go left, if it’s on the left it’s gonna go right. If it’s up on top it goes low. If it’s underneath it goes high.” He then adds “you have to at least use those as guidelines.”
He makes it sound so simple that even a weekend warrior could pull it off! But then he picks up a club and attempts to demonstrate this only to hit two consecutive balls into a grounds crew that is walking out to work on the green before it’s dark outside.
All of that just to prove that Scottie Scheffler was correct. Mud balls should be cleaned off, they are not a true test of a golfer’s skills. No golfer should be able to pipe it 320+ down the center of the fairway and deal with a ball that is completely caked in mud.
At this point, it appears the rain has left Charlotte. Quail Hollow Club should only dry out today and over the weekend. But these players should not be punished with mud balls when they pipe perfect drives down the center of the fairway. That is not a true test of golf.