Bryson DeChambeau has a habit of getting the entire golf world talking.
He made the cut at a major for the first time all year, and we definitely felt his presence at The Open. After he got himself to within a shot of the lead, the R&A assessed DeChambeau a two-shot penalty for improving his lie on the fifth hole.
It was a penalty that sparked major controversy among players and media. After driving his ball into the deep rough, DeChambeau was deemed to have inadvertently stomped on the grass around his ball to the point where he improved the conditions of his shot.
Rory McIlroy said the penalty was well deserved; Scottie Scheffler rushed to DeChambeau’s defense, and now Dan Rapaport has weighed in on this rules controversy.
Dan Rapaport says Bryson DeChambeau should not have been given a penalty at The Open
DeChambeau argued his case at length to rules officials on Friday evening, and a number of players supported his claim that he did not deserve a penalty.
There were a couple of camera angles that showed DeChambeau stomping in the rough, but nothing conclusive to say he improved his lie, which is why Dan Rapaport is among a number of people saying the penalty was unjust.
Speaking on Dan on Golf, he said, “I don’t think it should have been a penalty and I really did not like the way that he reacted. I have watched the video 25 times and I still can’t believe he was penalised.
“You can’t see the golf ball in the video! In any of the video angles you can’t see the golf ball. This was not a case of Patrick Reed a couple of years ago in the Bahamas where you could see him building a sand castle in his backswing.
“The question isn’t whether Bryson stepped on the fescue, it’s whether it materially improved the condition of his stroke.
Was Bryson DeChambeau's penalty unfair?
He was penalised two shots following an incident on the fifth hole…
“Without clear-cut evidence, surely the player’s word should take precedence. That is one of the key rules of golf.
“Even Rory, who is not a fan of Bryson, said that he didn’t want to say he did it on purpose. But no professional is more keenly aware of how many cameras are on him. It would take some kind of sociopath to cheat live in 4k.
“I think the fact it was so split down the middle [from the players], is all the proof you need that it should not be a penalty. If all the players are split, and you can’t see the golf ball in the video, how can you be so sure to hand out a two-shot penalty?”
Dan Rapaport claims Bryson DeChambeau enjoyed rules drama
In true DeChambeau fashion, he didn’t simply accept the penalty and move on. He argued with officials until late at night, threatening to withdraw from the tournament, requesting to speak to US President Donald Trump, and then going to the practice range to hit balls until it was completely dark.
This drama meant the tournament was held hostage, as they could not release third-round tee times to the players until after 11 pm. McIlroy, Justin Thomas and Marco Penge were among those to complain about this.
McIlroy called DeChambeau’s behavior “performative,” and even Rapaport said he thinks the content creator inside of DeChambeau enjoyed the attention.
He said, “How a person reacts to that one when all the blood rushes to your head reveals a lot about your character. His first inclination was to throw his arms in the air, and take his hat off, and then threaten not to play the final round.
“He did this weird cat-and-mouse game with the media when he was walking past them, and he was like, ‘Would you guys want snacks?’
“It turned the whole thing into a circus, and I got the sense he was enjoying it. I think he was enjoying the performance aspect of it all.
“I think once he realized he was getting the penalty, I think he realized he was going to get a bunch of memes and content out of this; the whole world is going to be talking about it.”
Unfortunately, this behavior was at the expense of the rest of the field, so perhaps it wasn’t the time to kick up such a public fuss. The R&A is likely happy to see the back of DeChambeau for another year.
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