Bryson DeChambeau embroiled in fresh controversy at The Open as he confronts officials AGAIN – 24 hours on from ‘cheating’ scandal
Bryson DeChambeau has a fresh clash with Open Championship bosses after shooting a third-round 69 to leave him four points behind leader Sam Burns.
Just hours after Rory McIlroy launched a scathing attack on the American for Friday’s extraordinary rules controversy, DeChambeau left the course on Saturday and headed straight for the tournament offices.
The 32-year-old, who was seen in a heated conversation with R&D CEO Mark Darbon, is understood to have made a strange request to be given the second round scorecard.
This request was denied, and in any case it is not clear why he would have asked for the reduced card from 66 to 68 when he was found to have “accidentally” improved his lie on the fifth hole.
The exchange came just minutes after DeChambeau struggled to keep himself in contention in the final major of the season. -The one-under round moved the double US Open champion to six under, moving into sixth place behind Burns; Ryan Fox finished second after shooting his third 62 of the tournament.
DeChambeau was occasionally heckled during his third round, with occasional calls for ‘cheating’ amid more good-natured jokes about manipulating the hard ground, an echo of the incident that cost him two penalty kicks on Friday.
Bryson DeChambeau punted into the stands in the 18th, then headed straight for the referees
He was seen shouting at The Open rules chiefs on Friday night before being penalized
– One-under round moves the double US Open champion to six under and a tie for sixth
The crowd was tame compared to McIlroy’s outbursts. The world No.2, who initially accused DeChambeau of holding the tournament ‘hostage’ by threatening to quit, said: ‘I’m not going to be here and pretend to defend Bryson. I don’t like him very much.
‘(Friday night) I was watching the game in the players’ lounge with a few other players and as soon as he stepped on the ball we all looked at each other and said, ‘That didn’t look right.’ When I later heard he was called by the rules officials it was pretty clear why.
‘I think there’s no doubt that he’s improved his return line. Whether it was careless or intentional, I don’t think it matters. I hope it was careless, but I think the two-shot penalty was absolutely justified.’
McIlroy, who along with the rest of the field had to wait until Friday night for Saturday matches because of the saga, added: ‘To hold the tournament hostage like that and have all of us, players, volunteers, everyone waiting for him to leave, I didn’t think it was a great look.’
