SOUTHPORT, England, July 19 (Reuters) - World number one Scottie Scheffler came to the defence of Bryson DeChambeau on Sunday, saying he was "definitely not a cheater", after a two-stroke penalty put a dent in his fellow American's British Open hopes.
Officials gave DeChambeau the penalty after his second-round 66 on Friday, judging that he had inadvertently improved his swing path on the fifth hole after a drive into rough.
DeChambeau had an animated discussion with an official after being driven back to the scene of the incident in a buggy and his reaction was labelled 'performative' by Rory McIlroy.
Instead of being one stroke off the lead on Friday, Dechambeau began his third round three shots back and while he responded with a 69 to stay in touch on Saturday, his challenge faltered on Sunday when he closed with a two-over 72.
Scheffler had stayed out of the controversy but broke his silence after his hopes of defending his Open crown ended on Sunday with a round of 67 that left him tied for fourth.
"I've been really focused on the tournament," he told reporters. "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.
"Certain guys like Bryson who 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 there.
"I hate saying stuff out here because I don't want anything to get taken out of context. 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."
While the R&A said the decision had been clear-cut after Dechambeau appeared to tread down some long grass as he got to where his ball had landed, there was no suggestion that he had done anything to deliberately gain an advantage.
"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," Scheffler said.
"Maybe he was a touch careless around his ball but I don't think he did anything intentionally."
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; editing by Clare Fallon)
