Bryson DeChambeau 'Definitely Not a Cheater,' Scottie Scheffler Says After Controversial Penalty

Scottie Scheffler says he believes Bryson DeChambeau did not intend to cause the disturbance of grass on the Royal Birkshire course that cost him a two-stroke penalty in Friday's second round of The Open Championship.

"Bryson, I've known him for a long time. He's a lot of things, but he's definitely not a cheater," Scheffler said Sunday. "I've never seen him cheat once."

Tournament organizers assessed DeChambeau with the penalty Friday after claiming he improved his lie by flattening grass around the ball before taking his second shot on hole No. 5.

The Open's chief referee Grant Moir said after the second round officials felt DeChambeau's impact on the course was unintentional.

Because officials determined he flattened grass in the area behind his ball, however, Moir reported he had inadvertently improved the area around his "intended backswing."

Scheffler pointed toward Jon Rahm's two-stroke penalty during the 2020 Memorial Tournament, which was assessed after slow-motion replay found the ball had moved before Rahm's apparent birdie shot, as another example of a penalty that came only after video review.

"I think maybe we need to be a little more strict in the way that we are policing guys," Scheffler said. "But it's a little bit of a balance, because you've got certain guys like a Bryson, where every shot he hits is going to be shown on TV. And when you have camera angles that are far away, things can look different than they do when you're right there."

Scheffler continued, "When you're watching him there, from that camera angle— maybe he was a touch careless around his ball, but I don't think he did anything intentionally."

Scheffler also indicated he sees the penalty as a continuation of a trend of golfers being progressively less stringent about following the rules of the game.

"I think we need to kind of get back to the traditions of the game, and maybe we do need to police things a little bit more stricter in the game," Scheffler said Sunday. "But like I said, it's a tough line to cross."

DeChambeau's character was defended this weekend by other players including Max Homa, Sam Burns and Xander Schauffele, all of whom argued DeChambeau should not have received a penalty on the shot.

Rory McIlroy came in on the other side of the argument when he said he thought the penalty was "pretty obvious."

It was ultimately Ryan Fox who emerged victorious from the British Open with the first major win of his career.