The Open: Scotty Scheffler insists Bryson DeChambeau ‘isn’t a cheater’ and defends Ryder Cup teammate in rules play | golf news

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

DeChambeau dominated the title at Royal Birkdale during the year’s final men’s major, where he appeared within a shot of the halfway lead before being handed a two-shot penalty after the second round.

The LIV Golf League star was cited for improving the line of his backswing into the long grass on the par-four fifth, turning his bogey into a triple-bogey seven, with DeChambeau involved in heated discussions with rules officials as of Friday evening.

Speculation that DiChambeau was ready to withdraw in protest was quickly quashed by the Americans, who refused to speak to the media after each tournament round but said on social media that the decision ‘fired him’ to continue.

Rory McIlroy criticized DeChambeau’s “performative” behaviorThat included a long post-discussion round on the course and a late-night range session, although the R&A admitted his actions were unintentional.

“I’ve known him (DeChambeau) for a long time and he’s a lot of things, but he’s definitely not a cheater,” Scheffler told reporters after his tied fourth finish. “I never once saw him cheat.

“Whether it’s a putting contest on our putting green or a chipping contest or whenever we play amateur golf, I’ve never seen anything suspicious.

“When you see him there from the camera angle, maybe he was touchless around his balls, but I don’t think he did anything on purpose.”

Scheffler stopped talking about the incident after the third round but gave his opinion on the final day, with the world number one questioning whether there were different ways to apply the rules.

“I think maybe we need to be a little more strict in the way we’re policing the boys,” Scheffler explained. “It’s a bit of a balance because you have guys like Bryson, who every shot he hits will be on TV.

“When you have camera angles that far away, things look different than when you’re there. I think sometimes, sometimes you see players take it a little further than they should.

“I think we need to get back to the tradition of the game and maybe police the game a bit more strictly.”

Scheffler on 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 in a lead on the final day, only to bogey the last and finish three strokes behind Ryan Fox.

“Today was a great effort,” Scheffler emphasized. “I felt like I was doing the right things out there. I gave myself a lot of looks again today. I guess it just wasn’t my week.

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

“I’ve seen some good things happen the last few days with guys hitting the ball out there, and it just didn’t happen for me today. Just that little bounce. I think I have the ball in the fairway on 14, I come out there, it’s in the pot bunker. Little things like that add up over the course of the week.

“I competed really well this week. I did a good job being patient and hitting the ball really well all four days. Yesterday was probably the only day I didn’t strike like I would have liked.”

What next?

The next PGA Tour event is the 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities in Minnesota, starting on Thursday, before switching to Sky Sports Golf on Sky Sports+ starting 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 women’s major season concludes with the AIG Women’s Open from 30 July-2 August, also live on Sky Sports Golf. Get Sky Sports or Flow without any contract.