World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler has defended fellow American Bryson DeChambeau against accusations of cheating, stating that DeChambeau is "definitely not a cheater" following a rules controversy at the Open Championship. The incident occurred when DeChambeau incurred a two-shot penalty during the second round at Royal Birkdale after R&A officials determined he had illegally flattened grass around his ball on the fifth hole. This led to some spectators taunting DeChambeau with cries of "cheat" during the third round.
Scheffler emphasized that while DeChambeau might be "a lot of things," cheating is not among them. "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 from officials after his second round at The Open.
Scheffler suggested that camera angles can sometimes misrepresent situations, making actions appear different than they do from a closer vantage point. He believes DeChambeau may have been "a touch careless around his ball" but did not act intentionally. Scheffler recalled similar situations in golf, referencing Jon Rahm's penalty at the Memorial tournament when his ball moved in the rough, questioning whether such movements are always discernible to the naked eye.
Scheffler also commented on the broader challenges in professional golf, suggesting that some players may exploit perceived loopholes in the rules. "I think sometimes it's just a difficult position in the game of golf," he stated. "When I was growing up, 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."
He advocated for a return to the game's traditions and potentially stricter policing of infractions. "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 added. "But like I said, it's a tough line to cross. That's why it's hard for me to say anything like this. Bryson is a guy that I've known for a really long time. He's not a cheater."
