---
title: "Scheffler Defends DeChambeau After Open Penalty"
description: "Bryson DeChambeau took a two-shot penalty at the Open for flattening grass behind his ball, which the R&A said was accidental. Amid the commentary that followed, the world's best player said plainly that DeChambeau is not a cheat."
category: "Sports"
category_url: https://newsparlor.com/category/sports
author: "Aisha Carter"
published: 2026-07-20T22:33:14.000Z
updated: 2026-07-20T22:33:14.000Z
canonical: https://newsparlor.com/article/scheffler-defends-dechambeau-after-open-penalty
tags: ["golf", "the-open", "bryson-dechambeau", "scottie-scheffler"]
---
# Scheffler Defends DeChambeau After Open Penalty

Bryson DeChambeau took a two-shot penalty at the Open for flattening grass behind his ball, which the R&A said was accidental. Amid the commentary that followed, the world's best player said plainly that DeChambeau is not a cheat.

The incident that produced this story is small and technical. Bryson DeChambeau was given a two-shot penalty during Friday's second round at the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, after television footage showed him taking high steps through tall fescue near his ball on the fifth hole, flattening the grass behind it.

Under the rules, that counts as improving the area of the intended swing, whether or not it was deliberate. The R&A official Grant Moir said the rule ["applies even when the action is accidental, as it was in Bryson's case"](https://www.espn.com/golf/story/_/id/49401509/scottie-scheffler-says-bryson-dechambeau-definitely-not-cheater) — a governing body stating, on the record, that it regarded the breach as unintentional.

## The defence

The penalty nonetheless generated the kind of commentary that follows DeChambeau, a polarising figure, and the word "cheating" entered the conversation. Scottie Scheffler, the world's top-ranked golfer, was asked about it after the final round and did not hedge.

"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," he said.

He went further, staking his own observation against the accusation: "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."

On the incident itself, Scheffler allowed a criticism while rejecting the serious one. "When you're watching him there from that camera angle, maybe he was a touch careless around his ball, but I don't think he did anything intentionally."

## Why it needed saying

There is a distinction here that the noise around the tournament had blurred, and it is worth stating cleanly.

A rules breach and an act of cheating are different things. The first is a factual matter, decided by officials, and DeChambeau's two shots were correctly applied. The second is a claim about intent, and the only people positioned to assess it are those who administer the rules and those who know the player. On this occasion both said the same thing: the R&A called it accidental, and Scheffler called the cheating charge baseless.

Scheffler also made a point about visibility that applies well beyond this case. The leading players are filmed on almost every shot, from angles no ordinary competitor is subjected to, so a careless movement that would pass unseen for most players becomes a broadcast event for them. That is not an excuse for the penalty, which stands, but it is a fair observation about why the scrutiny falls unequally.

## The golf, for the record

None of this changed the destination of the Claret Jug. Ryan Fox of New Zealand won the championship. DeChambeau finished on four under, six behind the winner. Scheffler tied for fourth on seven under.

The lasting item from the week, beyond the result, is a small one: the best player in the world declining to let an accidental penalty be turned into an accusation of dishonesty against a rival.

## Sources

- [Scheffler: DeChambeau 'definitely not a cheater'](https://www.espn.com/golf/story/_/id/49401509/scottie-scheffler-says-bryson-dechambeau-definitely-not-cheater)