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SOUTHPORT, England – Bryson DeChambeau is mad again.
Mad about a ruling that he believes unjustifiably cost him two strokes in his pursuit of the 154th British Open and his third career major championship.
I have no trouble with DeChambeau disagreeing with Rule 8.1 turning his bogey at the fifth hole into a triple that dropped him back to 5 under and T-5, three shots behind leader Lucas Herbert.
DeChambeau isn’t the first player to think he’s gotten a raw deal on a ruling and he won’t be the last. It’s his response that I will remember most. I’ve seen Tiger Woods so mad when he was penalized for his ball oscillating at the 2013 BMW Championship that he slammed the door to a scoring trailer and didn’t want to sign his scorecard and back in the day Arnold Palmer played a second ball at the 1958 Masters when his first tee shot embedded in the muddy bank behind the green. But none of these players threatened to withdraw from the championship. I asked several rules officials past and present whether they agreed that DeChambeau should have been penalized for improving his intended (back) swing and to a man they said the R&A got it right, and that it was an open-and-shut case. The rules officials have a responsibility to protect the field, and intent isn’t part of the equation. While waiting at the practice range to hear if DeChambeau might address the situation, DeChambeau’s manager, Brett Falkoff, said of his client to several of the media, “he’s a lot of things; he’s not a cheater.”
The R&A went out of its way in its statement to say it was “inadvertent.”
Falkoff, however, missed the point that it’s not about whether DeChambeau did it intentionally or not. He broke the rule. Then he acted like a spoiled brat, calling the rules officials “crooks,” and threatening to take his ball and go home when he didn’t get his way.
As one highly respected rules official who has been involved with numerous majors wrote to me in an email, “One’s true self shows under stressful circumstances. Once again Bryson’s true self shows itself.”
DeChambeau's YouTube channel couldn't edit out the parts of his video encounter with the R&A back at the scene of the crime that showed his petulance and unwillingness to accept the penalty. [Even when he could control the message, he chose to mock the R&A in his Instagram post.] Contrast DeChambeau's response to Ireland’s Shane Lowry, who was assessed a two-shot penalty after his ball appeared to move in the rough when he was taking a practice swing at the 12th hole at Royal Portrush last year during the second round of the Open.
"I had to take it. ... I wasn't arguing my case, but I'm disappointed that they don't have more camera angles on it," said Lowry, who faced the music from media and offered a candid and cogent explanation of his feeling. "The last thing I want to do is sit there and argue and not take the penalty and then get slaughtered all over social media tonight for being a cheat."
But DeChambeau can never admit he’s wrong. It was very on brand to go to the driving range and hit balls for nearly an hour into the darkness. That is him making everyone from his team to the media to the R&A feel his pain. My Golfweek colleague Eamon Lynch said it best on Golf Channel’s Live From. “(Bryson’s) created a world where he’s the sun in his own solar system, and he’s entitled to do that. He’s not entitled to make a major championship wait (on him).”
Only after he left the range and his PR team presumably had time to craft the proper messaging did he finally say what he should’ve said on camera hours earlier.
“Obviously disappointed with the ruling,” he posted on social media. “I don’t agree with it, but it is what it is. This fires me up. Onto the weekend. Let’s get it.”
There’s still 36 holes for DeChambeau to deliver the ultimate response to the rules violation and show that he has cracked the code for links golf and earn the title of Champion Golfer of the Year. But to borrow a phrase from the former NFL coach Dennis Green, DeChambeau’s reaction to being penalized in the second round confirmed once again that he is who we thought he was.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Schupak: Bryson DeChambeau rages over British Open penalty, shows true self
Continue reading...
Mad about a ruling that he believes unjustifiably cost him two strokes in his pursuit of the 154th British Open and his third career major championship.
I have no trouble with DeChambeau disagreeing with Rule 8.1 turning his bogey at the fifth hole into a triple that dropped him back to 5 under and T-5, three shots behind leader Lucas Herbert.
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DeChambeau isn’t the first player to think he’s gotten a raw deal on a ruling and he won’t be the last. It’s his response that I will remember most. I’ve seen Tiger Woods so mad when he was penalized for his ball oscillating at the 2013 BMW Championship that he slammed the door to a scoring trailer and didn’t want to sign his scorecard and back in the day Arnold Palmer played a second ball at the 1958 Masters when his first tee shot embedded in the muddy bank behind the green. But none of these players threatened to withdraw from the championship. I asked several rules officials past and present whether they agreed that DeChambeau should have been penalized for improving his intended (back) swing and to a man they said the R&A got it right, and that it was an open-and-shut case. The rules officials have a responsibility to protect the field, and intent isn’t part of the equation. While waiting at the practice range to hear if DeChambeau might address the situation, DeChambeau’s manager, Brett Falkoff, said of his client to several of the media, “he’s a lot of things; he’s not a cheater.”
The R&A went out of its way in its statement to say it was “inadvertent.”
Falkoff, however, missed the point that it’s not about whether DeChambeau did it intentionally or not. He broke the rule. Then he acted like a spoiled brat, calling the rules officials “crooks,” and threatening to take his ball and go home when he didn’t get his way.
As one highly respected rules official who has been involved with numerous majors wrote to me in an email, “One’s true self shows under stressful circumstances. Once again Bryson’s true self shows itself.”
DeChambeau's YouTube channel couldn't edit out the parts of his video encounter with the R&A back at the scene of the crime that showed his petulance and unwillingness to accept the penalty. [Even when he could control the message, he chose to mock the R&A in his Instagram post.] Contrast DeChambeau's response to Ireland’s Shane Lowry, who was assessed a two-shot penalty after his ball appeared to move in the rough when he was taking a practice swing at the 12th hole at Royal Portrush last year during the second round of the Open.
"I had to take it. ... I wasn't arguing my case, but I'm disappointed that they don't have more camera angles on it," said Lowry, who faced the music from media and offered a candid and cogent explanation of his feeling. "The last thing I want to do is sit there and argue and not take the penalty and then get slaughtered all over social media tonight for being a cheat."
But DeChambeau can never admit he’s wrong. It was very on brand to go to the driving range and hit balls for nearly an hour into the darkness. That is him making everyone from his team to the media to the R&A feel his pain. My Golfweek colleague Eamon Lynch said it best on Golf Channel’s Live From. “(Bryson’s) created a world where he’s the sun in his own solar system, and he’s entitled to do that. He’s not entitled to make a major championship wait (on him).”
Only after he left the range and his PR team presumably had time to craft the proper messaging did he finally say what he should’ve said on camera hours earlier.
“Obviously disappointed with the ruling,” he posted on social media. “I don’t agree with it, but it is what it is. This fires me up. Onto the weekend. Let’s get it.”
There’s still 36 holes for DeChambeau to deliver the ultimate response to the rules violation and show that he has cracked the code for links golf and earn the title of Champion Golfer of the Year. But to borrow a phrase from the former NFL coach Dennis Green, DeChambeau’s reaction to being penalized in the second round confirmed once again that he is who we thought he was.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Schupak: Bryson DeChambeau rages over British Open penalty, shows true self
Continue reading...
