Bryson DeChambeau Says PGA Tour Must 'Protect' Players from Cameramen

Bryson DeChambeau said the PGA Tour needs to do more to "protect" the image of its players by limiting what cameramen are able to film.

DeChambeau expressed his frustration with being overly filmed after a cameraman followed him after he threw his club after a bad shot out of the sand on No. 7 during Saturday's third round of the Rocket Mortgage Classic.

DeChambeau told reporters:

"He was literally watching me the whole entire way up after getting out of the bunker, walking up next to the green. And I just was like, 'Sir, what is the need to watch me that long?' I mean, I understand it's his job to video me, but at the same point, I think we need to start protecting our players out here compared to showing a potential vulnerability and hurting someone's image. I just don't think that's necessarily the right thing to do."

DeChambeau had an extended chat with the cameraman after he holed out on No. 7 for a bogey. He'll enter Sunday's final round three strokes behind leader Matthew Wolff.

While DeChambeau recovered to stay in contention, he said the cameramen are filming in an effort to make players look bad in competitive moments:

"As much as we're out here performing, I think it's necessary that we have our times of privacy as well when things aren't going our way. I mean, we're in the spotlight, but if somebody else is in the spotlight they wouldn't want that either. I feel like when you're videoing someone and you catch Tiger [Woods] at a bad time, you show him accidentally doing something, or someone else, they're just frustrated because they really care about the game. It could really hurt them if they catch you at a potentially vulnerable time.

"We don't mean anything by it; we just care a lot about the game. For that to damage our brand like that, that's not cool in the way we act because if you actually meet me in person, I'm not too bad of a dude, I don't think."

DeChambeau's frustrations ring a little hollow, given that performers in all sports are being constantly filmed. Occasional expressions of frustration are rarely viewed as anything beyond that, though the golf community is considered more conservative with outward displays of emotion than a team sport like football.

Odds are there isn't much that could or should be done in this situation, as it's the job of cameramen to capture moments of fan interest.