Scottie Scheffler said after Saturday’s third round that he had “a lot to say” about Bryson DeChambeau’s controversial two-shot penalty at The Open Championship but insisted it wasn’t the right time to discuss it while he was still chasing the Claret Jug.
Twenty-four hours later, after finishing tied for fourth at Royal Birkdale, the World No. 1 finally shared his thoughts.
Scheffler strongly defended DeChambeau against accusations of cheating following Friday’s rules violation, while also arguing that professional golf needs to do a better job policing players and preserving the traditions of the game. His response echoed comments made earlier by Harris English, Russell Henley and Sam Burns, but also introduced a broader conversation about how the rules should be enforced moving forward.
Scottie Scheffler Defends Bryson DeChambeau: ‘He’s Definitely Not a Cheater’
Scheffler made it clear that while DeChambeau may have been careless during the incident that resulted in his two-stroke penalty, he never believed there was any intent to break the rules.
“All I’ll say is Bryson, I’ve known him for a long time, and he’s a lot of things, but he’s definitely not a cheater,” Scheffler said.
“I’ve never seen him cheat once, whether we were having a putting contest on the putting green or chipping contest, or anytime we played amateur golf, I never saw anything suspicious.”
DeChambeau received a two-stroke penalty after officials ruled he had improved the area of his intended swing while walking through tall fescue before his second shot on the fifth hole during Friday’s second round.
While television replays sparked widespread debate across social media, Scheffler cautioned against relying solely on camera angles.
“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 noted that players like DeChambeau face additional scrutiny because nearly every shot they hit is captured on television.
“You’ve got certain guys like a Bryson who every shot he hits is going to be shown on TV. When you have camera angles that are far away, things can look different than they do when you’re right there.”
Scottie Scheffler Says Golf Needs ‘Stricter’ Rules Enforcement
Although Scheffler defended DeChambeau personally, he also acknowledged that golf may need to return to a stricter standard when it comes to players policing themselves.
Scheffler pointed to Jon Rahm’s controversial penalty at the Memorial Tournament several years ago as another example of how modern television technology can make rulings increasingly difficult.
“We’ve seen penalties happen with — like you remember Jon Rahm a couple years ago at the Memorial when his ball moved in the rough, and it’s like to the naked eye, can you really tell that?”
Scheffler believes the bigger issue isn’t any individual player, but a gradual shift in how closely golfers operate to the edge of the rules.
“When I was growing up… you always tried to stray really far” from crossing the line, Scheffler said.
“I feel like at times, sometimes you see players maybe push it a little bit further than they should.”
He finished by calling for professional golf to embrace the sport’s longstanding traditions while still recognizing the difficulty officials face balancing intent, technology and fairness.
“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.”
Even so, Scheffler reiterated that none of those comments should be interpreted as criticism of DeChambeau.
“Bryson is a guy that I’ve known for a really long time. Like I said, he’s not a cheater.”
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