World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler may have won the 2025 BMW Championship, but things haven’t gone his way in the 2026 season. He opened the tournament with his worst score of the season, a 2-over-par 72, before shooting a relatively strong 5-under-par 65 in the second round. However, his third round at Bellerive Golf Course on Saturday proved frustrating. His anger boiled over later in the round as cameras caught him slamming his club repeatedly.

Scottie Scheffler slams his club. Then slams it again. Then throws it.

Scheffler started the day with three straight pars before making a bogey. The front nine was salvageable, and the World No. 1 picked up three birdies and made the turn at 2-under. He added another birdie on the par-4 11th. Then the wheels started coming off.

His approach on the 12th went left and landed in the deep rough by the green. It was a downslope, but the lie wasn’t that bad. There was still a chance to save par, but Scheffler hit it too hard, and the ball bounced to the other side of the green, leaving him 17 feet short of the pin. The broadcaster said he would not be happy, and Scheffler wasn’t.

He grabbed the clubface and slammed the grip end of the club on the turf. Once. Twice. The club, then, came off his hand. He picked it up in disgust and swung through the grass in anger. Then, while walking toward the green, Scheffler threw the club into the rough. It bounced twice before the World No. 1 picked it up.

The video, which you can watch here, surfaced online, and fans wondered whether Scheffler would be assessed a penalty for his outburst. Here is what the rules say.

Was Scheffler penalized for his outburst?

The question seems important because all four men’s majors implemented a strict code of conduct policy this year. Joaquin Niemann was assessed a two-stroke penalty at the 2026 U.S. Open for throwing his club and kicking a flag. Jon Rahm was issued a code of conduct warning at the Open Championship too. So when the Scheffler incident started making the rounds on social media, some claimed that the World No. 1 had received or should receive a penalty. But what is the case here?

Well, the PGA Tour doesn’t have a strict code of conduct policy. While players are expected to maintain decorum, they don’t get an official warning for throwing the club. Nor do they get penalized for repeated breaches of the expected standards of decorum. So Scheffler didn’t get penalized for throwing his club.

He didn’t speak to the media afterward. But why did one bogey cause Scheffler to get this angry?

There was more than one reason for Scheffler’s frustration

What makes his performance at the BMW Championship even more frustrating is that he arrived fresh off a dominant victory at last week’s St. Jude Championship, his second win of the season and his first since January. A sudden dip in performance, therefore, has to sting, especially with the Tour Championship coming up next week.

On top of that, his driver kept disappointing him. Scheffler either missed the fairway completely or landed on the wrong side. On Moving Day, he hit just seven of 14 fairways, ranking tied for 35th in driving accuracy. Now Scheffler generally gets away with this because of his strong recovery game. Not at Bellerive, however.

He went 3 for 6 in scrambling, getting up and down only 50% of the time. Then you’ve got the putting woes. Scottie Scheffler lost over a stroke to the field in putting. Scheffler couldn’t birdie any of the par-3s on Saturday. He almost missed an 8-footer for birdie on the par-4 4th hole. This was a sharp contrast to Friday.

Scheffler went bogey-free on the back nine on cut day, picking up five birdies to post a 5-under 65. Probably he expected to replicate it on Saturday as well, when he needed it the most. It was the complete opposite on Saturday, with Scheffler finishing the back nine at even par.

He is 12 strokes behind Wyndham Clark, the third-round leader. Although Scheffler is inside the top 20, there is no chance of him erasing a 12-stroke deficit and defending his title.

Is Scottie Scheffler’s sickness to blame for his poor performance?

Scottie Scheffler skipped the media duties after an opening round of 72. An Associated Press report claimed his voice was hoarse when he said he wouldn’t speak to the media.

On Friday, the World No. 1 told reporters that he was not playing at 100%: “I wasn’t feeling a hundred percent yesterday. I’m still not feeling a hundred percent today. So I’ll go home, get some rest.”

It is possible that Scheffler’s frustration is also due to the fact that he is ailing from an undisclosed illness. That said, it appears Scheffler has failed to produce the same magic from the St. Jude Championship. While it won’t affect his FedEx Cup standings, his reaction clearly suggests he expects better from himself. 

Scheffler has also recorded five runner-up finishes this season, so he may have been hoping that last week’s victory would mark the beginning of a dominant finish to his 2026 campaign. He has guaranteed himself a spot in next week’s $40 million Tour Championship, despite a drop in form.