Using the rules of dodging trees at the Phoenix Open 2023

By knowing the rules of the game, Schauffele took advantage of the 13th and par5 holes when playing the third round on the Stadium course in the TPC Scottsdale golf complex. There, he hit the wasteland to the right of the fairway, the ball close to the tree.

With that position, Schauffele could not go straight in the second shot and was only able to hit left or right. The following way dodge the tree but cost the owl. After observing the situation, he called the referee and persuaded by rule 16.1a of the golf rules that, "the player is freed the ball without penalty when the ball or position or intended swinging area touches or lies within /on unusual course conditions, including burrows/holes created by animals.

Through the CBS camera lens, Schauffele's shadow is lower than the convex roots, surrounded by many hollows or depressions.

However, the first referee disagreed with Schauffele's argument. The litigant appealed to the second and last referee to drop the ball in a new position, back to the left, about a meter from the tree.

That place can open the direction of play, about 200 yards from the flag. And on the second shot, Schauffele put the ball on the left side of the green, 16.4 yards from the hole, and added two more putts to end the 13th at the birdie.

CBS analyst Frank Nobilo commented: "With the ball right behind the tree, Xander is expected to spend at least 5-6 strokes on the 13th hole. But thanks to the rules, he only takes four shots."

Finishing the penultimate match, Schauffele reached -9 while the top of the table was at -13, belonging to fellow American Scottie Scheffler. On the way to the finish line, Schauffele earned only one point and finished T10 (-10), while Scheffler added six points to set the winning milestone -19 on the morning of February 13, Hanoi time. Scheffler received $3.6 million, Schauffele received $485,000.

Schauffele is 29 years old, has been playing professional golf since 2015, so far won seven cups on the PGA Tour, in addition to the individual gold medal at the Olympics in Tokyo in early August 2021.

In this week's world professional men's golf table, Schauffele is sixth while Scheffler is back at the top thanks to the last Phoenix Open.