Scottie Scheffler doesn't agree with Rory McIlroy on Bryson DeChambeau take
Scottie Scheffler doesn't agree with Rory McIlroy on Bryson DeChambeau take
Kylee HansenSun, July 19, 2026 at 7:10 PM UTC
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Scheffler disagreed with Rory McIlroy's take on Bryson DeChambeau -Credit:Getty Images
Scottie Scheffler said Bryson DeChambeau’s two-stroke penalty at the Open Championship is a difficult situation because the latter is consistently on television.
DeChambeau was issued a two-stroke penalty at the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale during the second round after the LIV Golf star questionably matted down the grass in his backswing, but he argued that he was reading his line by standing directly behind the ball.
The 32-year-old threatened to withdraw from the tournament after the penalty, which knocked him down the leaderboard after he climbed to second place on Friday. He still made the cut at a major for the first time this season.
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Scheffler, unlike Rory McIlroy, who clearly stated he is not ‘fond’ of DeChambeau, showed sympathy.
“I think that opens up a greater discussion that -- all 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,” said Scheffler. “When you have camera angles that are far away, things can look different than they do when you're right there.
“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. 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.”
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McIlroy said he is not fond of Bryson DeChambeau -Credit:GETTY
On the other hand, McIlroy said he and others in the players lounge looked around at each other, thinking that DeChambeau intentionally improved his lie.
“Then when I heard that he was called in by the rules officials, I think we all -- it was pretty obvious for why,” said McIlroy. “I think there's no doubt that he improved the line of his backswing.
“Again, it's like, whether it was careless or whether it was intentional, I don't think it matters. Hopefully it was careless, but I think the two-shot penalty was justified for sure.”
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DeChambeau and McIlroy have incredibly different styles of play on the golf course, and aren’t particularly the best of friends.
“I won't pretend to be up here and defend Bryson,” added McIlroy. “I'm not particularly fond of him. I think a lot of it's performative. I think a lot of it's for attention.”
Scheffler continued, emphasizing that DeChambeau isn’t a cheater.
“It's a tough line to kind of cross,” said Scheffler. “So 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. Like I said, he's not a cheater.”
Source: “AOL Sports”
