Scottie Scheffler demands ‘stricter’ golf rules after missing out on glory at The Open

The American had initially finished the day just one stroke off the lead before officials ruled he had accidentally improved the area of his intended swing by flattening long grass near his ball.

The punishment dramatically altered the leaderboard, leaving DeChambeau three shots behind halfway leader Lucas Herbert and triggering widespread debate across the golfing world.

Rory McIlroy was among those to weigh in, describing DeChambeau’s conduct as “performative”, while the incident dominated discussion throughout the remainder of the tournament.

Scheffler initially avoided offering a detailed opinion while still chasing a successful defence of his Open crown, but after closing with a four-under-par 67 to finish tied for fourth, the world No 1 finally addressed the controversy.

The four-time major champion admitted he believes golf could benefit from firmer officiating but stressed there was no suggestion DeChambeau had deliberately attempted to break the rules.

“I think that opens up a greater discussion,” Scheffler said.

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“I can really say is I think maybe we need to be a little bit more strict in the way that we are policing guys, but it’s a little bit of a balance because 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.”

Despite calling for change, Scheffler was adamant DeChambeau’s character should not be called into question.

“We’ve done a good job of, I don’t know, I hate saying stuff out here because I don’t want anything to get taken out of context,” he continued.

“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.

“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.”

Scheffler acknowledged television replays can sometimes create a misleading impression and suggested DeChambeau may simply have been careless rather than attempting to gain an unfair advantage.

“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,” he added.

The American also reflected on how attitudes towards the game’s traditions may have shifted over time, arguing players should make greater efforts to stay comfortably within the rules instead of operating close to the limit.

“I think sometimes it’s just a difficult position in the game of golf,” Scheffler said.

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“When I was growing up, if this was the line between things that were… like if this was the line, here are the rules and this was the right side of it and this is when you’re doing things against the rule, you always tried to stray really far that way.

“I feel like at times, sometimes you see players maybe push it a little bit further than they should.

“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.

“But like I said, it’s a tough line to kind of cross… Bryson is a guy that I’ve known for a really long time. Like I said, he’s not a cheater.”