Bryson DeChambeau caused a huge controversy on Friday at The Open Championship.
DeChambeau was penalized two strokes after he was deemed to have trampled down some of the tall grass behind his ball on the fifth hole at The Open during round two.
However, it was his behavior after being informed of the penalty that saw him receive real criticism.
Players like Marco Penge were made to wait until very late on Friday night before they found out their tee times for Saturday after Bryson DeChambeau refused to commit to even playing on Saturday at The Open.
DeChambeau was accused of lacking any kind of integrity at The Open, after the way in which he took the news that he would be receiving a two-stroke penalty.
And other players in the field were certainly inconvenienced by his actions.
Marco Penge responds when asked about Bryson DeChambeau fiasco at The Open
Penge spoke to the media at Royal Birkdale on Saturday.
The Englishman was asked whether his preparations on Friday changed because he wasn’t informed of his round three tee time until late.
“Yeah, it was a bit of a joke really,“ he admitted.
“I’m staying at home this week, which is an hour away, and not getting a tee time until 11:00 p.m. is not great, really, when the tournament probably finished at — we could have at least got a heads up for what time the first tee time was going to be. Obviously there was a lot of commotion, so that delayed things.“
He was then asked whether he and his fellow players received an explanation of what was happening.
“I mean, clearly it was — what I presumed on social media, that Bryson was deciding whether he was going to play or not,“ he replied.
“I presume until they were told whether he was going to play, then we wouldn’t get the tee time until then.
“But yeah, that’s what some players are like, or some people are like. It’s one of them things. Hopefully we’ll get told our tee time a little earlier tonight.“
What Marco Penge made of Bryson DeChambeau ruling
The Englishman was asked to give his opinion on the two-stroke penalty that was handed to DeChambeau.
“Yeah, I mean, probably shouldn’t give my opinion on it,“ he said
“Yeah, I mean, you can obviously see on the TV. Everyone has got their own opinion of the scenario.
“Yeah, it’s really — with it being so burnt out, as well. I remember day one, four times on the front nine I was in the semi-rough and I wasn’t even — I didn’t ground the club or get anywhere near it because your club is slipping all over the place, so it’s so easy to make a mistake by accident.
“Yeah, that one was — I’ll leave that to everyone else.
“If I was in that position, I’d just be very careful where I’m standing and how I get into the ball and make sure I don’t improve my lie. Yeah, I would never want anyone to think I was doing that. That’s how I would deal with it. But yeah.“
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
