The Open: Scottie Scheffler insists Bryson DeChambeau is ‘not a cheater’ and defends Ryder Cup teammate over rules drama | Golf News

Scottie Scheffler has defended Bryson DeChambeau over his rules controversy at The Open and insisted the two-time US Open champion is ‘not a cheater’.

DeChambeau was the talk of the town at Royal Birkdale during the men’s final of the year, where he appeared in midfield before being hit with two penalties after his second round.

The LIV Golf League star was ruled to improve the line back to the long grass on the par-five par-five, turning his bogey into a triple-bogey seven, with DeChambeau in heated discussions with officials until Friday evening.

Speculation that DeChambeau would withdraw from the protest was quickly dismissed by the American, who refused to speak to the media after all the competitions but said on social media that the decision had ‘dispelled’ him to continue.

Rory McIlroy criticized DeChambeau’s “active” behaviour, which included a long chat after a round of the course and a night session, although the R&A accepted his actions were unintentional.

“I know him [DeChambeau] for a long time and he has a lot of things, but he’s definitely not a cheater,” Scheffler told reporters after finishing his fourth arrest. “I’ve never seen him cheat once.

“Whether we had a putting green or a chipping contest, or whenever we were playing beginner golf, I never saw anything suspicious.

“If you look at him from that camera angle, maybe he could have been carelessly touched on the ball, but I don’t think he did anything on purpose.”

Scheffler stopped talking about the incident after the third round but made his comments on the final day, when the world No. 1 asked if there were different ways to apply the rules.

“I think maybe we need to be a little tougher in the way we police,” Scheffler explained. “It’s a bit of a balance because you have some guys like Bryson, every shot you hit is on TV.

“When you have distant camera angles, things can look different than when you’re there. I feel like sometimes, sometimes you see the players maybe pushing it a little bit more than they should.

“I think we need to get back to the culture of the game and maybe we need to force things a little bit in the game.”

Scheffler’s near miss: ‘It wasn’t my week’

Scheffler was aiming to become the first back-to-back winner of The Open since Padraig Harrington and briefly found himself among the leaders on the final day, only to shine the last time and finish three strokes behind Ryan Fox.

“Today was a great effort,” emphasized Scheffler. “I felt like I was doing the right things. I looked great again today. I guess it wasn’t my week.

“I got a good break there on 17, but off the tee, I probably should have been in the fairway. Those things hurt. My ball on 13 goes into that hole. It wasn’t my best tee shot, but it was a time when I needed to be aggressive.

“I’ve seen some good things happen with guys who hit the ball there the last few days, and it didn’t happen for me today. That’s just a little bounce. My ball on 14 I think is in the fairway, I go up there, it’s in the pot room. Little things like that during the week usually add up.

“I competed really well this week. I did a good job of staying patient and hitting it really well over the four days. Yesterday was probably the only day I didn’t hit it as well as I would have liked.”

What’s next?

The next PGA Tour event is the 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities in Minnesota, starting on Thursday, which will be available early on Sky Sports+ before switching to Sky Sports Golf at 7pm.

The 3M Open is part of a golf triple-header live on Sky Sports, with the ISPS Handa Senior Open and ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open also live. The senior women’s season then concludes with the AIG Women’s Open from July 30-August 2, also live on Sky Sports Golf. Get Sky Sports or stream without a contract.