Bryson DeChambeau became embroiled in a fresh conflict with Open Championship bosses after shooting a third-round 69 to sit four behind leader Sam Burns.
Just hours after Rory McIlroy launched a scathing attack on the American over Friday’s extraordinary rules controversy, DeChambeau departed the course on Saturday and headed directly for the tournament offices.
He was seen in an animated conversation with R&A chief executive Mark Darbon, with the 32-year-old understood to have issued a bizarre demand to be handed his second-round scorecard.
That request was denied and, in any case, it is unclear why he would want the card, which was downgraded from a 66 to a 68 when he was found to have ‘inadvertently’ improved his lie on the fifth hole.
The exchange occurred moments after DeChambeau battled to keep himself in contention in the season’s final major. A one-under-par round moved the double US Open champion to six under and a tie for sixth behind Burns, with Ryan Fox in second after carding the third 62 of the tournament.
DeChambeau was sporadically heckled during his third round, with occasional calls of ‘cheat’ among better-natured jibes about manipulating the rough as an echo of the incident that cost him two penalty strokes on Friday.
Bryson DeChambeau played up to the crowds on the 18th – then headed straight to officials
On Friday night, he was seen screaming at The Open rules chiefs before being penalised
A one-under-par round moved the double US Open champion to six under and a tie for sixth
Compared to McIlroy’s blasts, the crowd were tame. The world No 2, who accused DeChambeau of holding the tournament ‘hostage’ with his initial threats to quit, said: ‘I won’t pretend to be up here and defend Bryson. I’m not particularly fond of him.
‘I was up in the players’ lounge watching it (on Friday night) with a few other players and 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.
‘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, who along with the rest of the field was forced by the saga to wait until Friday night for their Saturday times, added: ‘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.’
