Bryson DeChambeau, the LIV Golf star, completely lost it last week at The Open Championship, causing a serious uproar after he was slapped with a two-stroke penalty. The drama peaked when he allegedly threatened to withdraw from the tournament and even suggested he’d call Donald Trump to try and get the R&A to reverse the decision. Yeah, you read that right. None of that materialized, thankfully, and he showed up for his third round on Saturday, but the damage was already done.
Two Strokes and a Tantrum: DeChambeau’s Royal Birkdale Breakdown
The whole fiasco went down on Friday at Royal Birkdale, where DeChambeau was deemed to have improved his playing conditions around the ball on the fifth hole. He was caught trampling down some of the long grass behind his ball in the rough. That’s a clear rules violation, and it netted him a two-stroke penalty that shocked the golfing world. But it wasn’t just the penalty; it was DeChambeau’s reaction that really poured fuel on the fire. His “childlike reaction” earned him a mountain of criticism from golf fans, his fellow pros, and pundits globally. He could have just taken the penalty with some decency, changed the narrative, and moved on. Instead, he went full meltdown.
Rick Shiels Nails the Truth About DeChambeau’s Intent
Rick Shiels, who has his own affiliation with LIV Golf, dropped his honest take on the situation on his YouTube show, and he absolutely nailed it. Shiels insisted, “My take on it, I don’t think for one second that he intended to break the rules at all.” That’s a crucial point. However, Shiels quickly followed up, “But he knows the rules really well. A lot of pros use the rules to their advantage, which potentially he was trying to do.” He didn’t pull any punches when it came to DeChambeau’s post-penalty behavior. Shiels firmly stated, “I think he should have accepted the two shot penalty if that is what has been awarded to him. At the end of the day nobody is bigger than the game of golf or The Open. No one individual golfer is.” He believes DeChambeau “should have said as much as he didn’t like it, ‘it’s a two shot penalty, I will move on and use it as fuel’.”
Pros Rally to Defend Intent, But the Optics Are Brutal
While the incident “divided opinion,” it’s worth noting that DeChambeau did get some support from fellow pros, specifically regarding his intent. Xander Schauffele, Sam Burns, and Scottie Scheffler all jumped to his defense on that aspect. Scheffler weighed in, saying, “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.” He added, “When you have camera angles that are far away, things can look different than they do when you’re right there.” While Scheffler tried to tread carefully, the core issue remains: DeChambeau’s “childlike reaction” stole the show, and that’s something he’s just gotta own. It’s a rough look, no matter the intent.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
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