Scottie Scheffler is backing Bryson DeChambeau.
Playing in the group alongside DeChambeau on Friday, Scheffler had a front-row seat to the rules controversy that dominated this year's Open Championship.
DeChambeau received a two-stroke penalty after his second round for inadvertently improving his backswing by stomping down thick grass in a penalty area, bumping his score to 68 following a lengthy discussion with rules officials.
Although Rory McIlroy called the penalty "justified" and described DeChambeau's actions as "performative," Scheffler was hesitant to weigh in on the incident Saturday.
"I don't really have a ton to say on it," Scheffler said. "Actually, I do have a ton to say; I haven't decided exactly what I want to say publicly yet."
However, Scheffler appeared ready to talk about the situation after his Sunday charge fell just shy of Cameron Young's clubhouse lead.
"I hate saying stuff out here because I don't want anything to get taken out of context, but 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," Scheffler said.
"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. 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."
While Scheffler's comments might defend DeChambeau's position, he also shared his thoughts on rulings across golf.
"I feel like at times, sometimes you see players maybe push it a little bit further than they should. I think we need to kind of get back to the traditions of the game, and maybe we do need to police things a little bit more stricter in the game," Scheffler said.
Scheffler was also involved in a rules situation Sunday after his second shot to the par-5 17th strayed far left to the opposite side of a grandstand. He hit a provisional ball and looked set to take the stroke penalty before the rules official deemed his original ball lost in the grandstand - a ruling that gave him a free drop from a temporary immovable object.
The World No. 1 then hit a remarkable approach and made his birdie putt to get within one of Young's lead at 9-under. That kept him in the fight, but a bogey on 18 ensured he wouldn't defend his title from last year's Open.
