A lucky break is only valuable if a golfer knows how to use it, and Scottie Scheffler sure knows how to do that. Chasing his historic third consecutive title at Muirfield Village, the World No. 1 already kept everyone on their toes, saying he had a chance to erase a ten-shot deficit. On Saturday, he had a favorable ruling and took full advantage to climb the leaderboard.

The 29-year-old’s tee shot on the par-5 7th hole traveled 313 yards to land on the right intermediate. After reaching there, Scheffler noticed the ball was sitting on a sprinkler head. He called on a rules official to assess the situation. USGA rule 16.1 permits players to take a free drop within a club length of the nearest point of complete relief, not nearer to the hold. PGA Tour play-by-play information showed Scheffler took relief into the right fairway 258 yards from the pin. Thereafter, he made the most out of it.

Scheffler hit the ball 256 yards with his 3-wood to the right green, just 8 ft 3 in from the pin. The approach peaked at 110 feet before settling 8 feet, 3 inches from the hole. Scheffler holed the ensuing eagle putt to move to 3-under for the day. This wasn’t the first time the four-time major winner used the immovable obstructions rule to his advantage. In fact, he used the rule twice in succession last year.

According to a Golf.com report from February 2025, at the Genesis Invitational, Scheffler got a free drop on the par-3 11th after the tournament sign board impacted his stance. He dropped to one club length, but while taking practice swings, the World No. 1 realized the sign was still coming into his line of play. He proceeded to take another free drop, chipped to the green, and saved par. You can call it crafty, but the TIO rule is used far more commonly than you would think.

Scheffler once again leveraged it at the 2026 PGA Championship when his ball came to rest on a buried sprinkler head. After the drop in a favorable lie, he saved par. But an eagle after a free drop at a difficult course like Muirfield surely tops all the others. Unfortunately, he couldn’t sustain the momentum.

The World No. 1 made another birdie on the 10th but dropped two shots on the par-3 12th and the par-3 14th. On the 12th, he missed a 15-footer, and on the 14th, his 10-footer traveled past the hole. As of publishing, he is 2-under for the day. The round was suspended due to thunderstorms. Scheffler trails the leader J.T. Poston, who is through five holes, by six shots. The round has still gone better than Friday, when he admitted he was afraid of carding 90.

“I felt like I was going to shoot about 90 today,” he said after he managed to head to the weekend despite being on the verge of missing the cut for the first time in 76 starts.

He also admitted that he was hitting “some of the worst” shots, but at the end of the day, he was positive that he still had a chance to turn things around.

“This tournament was one that definitely could have gotten away from me, but right now I’m only nine shots back and still have a chance going into the weekend,” he said about his chances of tying with Tiger Woods for the record three consecutive victories at the Memorial Tournament. “With the conditions the way they are, you never really know what’s going to happen around this golf course, and just getting inside the cut line, you still have a chance.”

Even on the first day of the $20M event, he had an outburst on the 16th hole when his ball went into the water after he hit the tee shot.

“I don’t know what to do. I’m hitting good shots and now dropping from hazards. You cannot get the wind wrong,” Scottie Scheffler was heard telling his caddie, Ted Scott.

While the first two rounds didn’t go exactly in his favor, he was right about never giving up, as he still has a chance to be in contention in the final round. And this isn’t the first time that attitude has helped him.

At the Masters 2026, Scheffler was 12 shots behind Rory McIlroy after 36 holes. However, he then carded rounds of 65-68 during the weekend to finish just one shot short of the Northern Irishman. At the 2025 BMW Championship, Scheffler erased a 4-shot deficit within five holes against Robert MacIntyre in the final round. On the par-3 17th, Scottie Scheffler holed out from 82 feet and clinched a two-stroke victory over the Scottish professional.

That made him the first male golfer since Tiger Woods (2006-07) to win five or more PGA Tour titles for two consecutive years. Notably, Scheffler has had this attitude since his high school years.

Scottie Scheffler’s never-give-up attitude

Scottie Scheffler’s long-time coach, Randy Smith, revealed that there’s no one who “wants to play better more than Scottie.” He even used to get temperamental when he couldn’t play well.

Recounting one such story, Smith said that Scheffler once struck a mesquite bush in an angry tantrum. This led to a thorn piercing deep into his thumb. While doctors recommended surgery, he refused and instead played through the pain, reflecting his indomitable spirit.

Scottie Scheffler entered the third round at the Memorial Tournament with that same mentality and capitalized on an opportunity that presented itself. Now, it would be intriguing to see if he could go on to win record-tying third consecutive Memorial Tournament.