Bryson DeChambeau confronted Open Championship officials on Saturday after shooting a third-round 69, demanding to receive his second-round scorecard following a penalty controversy.
The 32-year-old double US Open champion departed the course and headed directly for the tournament offices. He engaged in an animated conversation with R&A chief executive Mark Darbon, but officials denied his demand for the scorecard.
It remains unclear why DeChambeau wanted the card, which was downgraded from a 66 to a 68 when rules officials determined he inadvertently improved his lie on the fifth hole during Friday's second round. The exchange occurred moments after DeChambeau battled to keep himself in contention in the season's final major.
A one-under-par round moved DeChambeau to six under and a tie for sixth place, four behind leader Sam Burns. Ryan Fox sits in second place after carding the third 62 of the tournament.
Spectators sporadically heckled DeChambeau during his third round, with occasional calls of "cheat" among better-natured jibes about manipulating the rough. DeChambeau played up to the crowds on the 18th before heading straight to officials.
On Friday night, DeChambeau was seen screaming at The Open rules chiefs before being penalised two strokes.
McIlroy criticises DeChambeau actions
The crowd reaction was tame compared to comments from world No 2 Rory McIlroy, who launched a scathing attack on the American over Friday's rules controversy. McIlroy accused DeChambeau of holding the tournament hostage with his initial threats to quit, forcing players, volunteers, and officials to wait on him to depart on Friday night.
McIlroy said he watched the incident on Friday night in the players' lounge with several other golfers. "I won't pretend to be up here and defend Bryson. I'm not particularly fond of him," McIlroy said. "As soon as he made the step into the ball, we all sort of looked at each other and we were like, 'That didn't seem right'. Then when I heard that he was called in by the rules officials, it was pretty obvious for why."
McIlroy added that he felt the two-shot penalty was justified. "I think there's no doubt that he improved the line of his backswing. Whether it was careless or whether it was intentional, I don't think it matters. Hopefully it was careless but I think the two-shot penalty was justified, for sure," McIlroy said. "To hold the tournament hostage like that and to have all of us, players, volunteers, everyone waiting on him to depart, I didn't feel like it was a great look."
