What’s better than the World No. 2 criticizing you? Well, the World No. 1 backing you. Bryson DeChambeau has found himself in that exact position. After DeChambeau was assessed a two-stroke penalty on Friday for improving the area of his intended swing, Scottie Scheffler refused to comment on the matter to focus on the tournament. However, now that The Open is done and dusted, the defending champion has shared his thoughts during Sunday’s press conference. 

“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 Bryson,” Scheffler said. “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… 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 [a] chipping contest, or anytime we played amateur golf, I never saw anything suspicious.”

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The PGA Tour’s near-surgical marksman roped in Jon Rahm into the mix. He pointed at ‘El Toro’s two-stroke penalty from the 2020 Memorial Tournament, where a slow-motion replay showed that Rahm’s ball had moved before Rahm’s apparent birdie shot. He used it as an example to highlight the importance of direct video evidence of the infraction. 

Of course, in DeChambeau’s case, no direct video evidence exists, even though there are multiple camera angles. Scheffler further claimed that players are becoming progressively less serious about following the proper tournament rules and pushing boundaries. At the same time, however, the World No. 1 acknowledged that there could have been a mistake on DeChambeau’s part too.

“… Maybe he was a touch careless around his ball, but I don’t think he did anything intentionally,” he added. “… 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 strict[ly] in the game.”

Scottie Scheffler isn’t the only one to back DeChambeau’s integrity. Max Homa also claimed that he has known the LIV Golf star for a very long time, and doesn’t think he would cheat. Even the executive director of the R&A, Grant Moir, has branded the infraction as accidental rather than intentional. Despite that support, others still aren’t convinced by the mistake narrative.

World No. 2 Rory McIlroy, for example, has explicitly said the penalty was justified, insisting DeChambeau’s infraction was intentional and that the American’s reaction was merely performative and designed to attract attention. At the same time, McIlroy has since invited DeChambeau to play at the Irish Open, his home event, this year, keeping the relationship between criticism and camaraderie intriguingly complex. As the debate over the infraction continues, the final results from the tournament help frame what was at stake on the course.

Scheffler finished at 7-under-par 273, tying for fourth place. Bryson DeChambeau closed at 4-under-par 276 to finish tied for 14th, a much-needed turnaround after missing the cut in each of the year’s previous three majors. Ryan Fox claimed the Claret Jug with a 10-under-par 270, securing the first major championship of his career.