Brandel Chamblee was one of Bryson DeChambeau’s harshest critics after he received a two-stroke penalty at The Open on Friday.
It will come as a surprise to absolutely nobody that Chamblee criticized DeChambeau on Friday, rather than defend him.
Advertisement
The Golf Channel analyst has been extremely critical of the LIV Golf star over the past few years.
Whenever Bryson DeChambeau fails in anything he’s doing, Brandel Chamblee seems to revel in the 32-year-old’s disappointment.
DeChambeau received a two-stroke penalty at The Open after being deemed to have trampled down some tall grass behind his ball in the rough on the fifth hole.
He dropped from seven-under par after two rounds at Royal Birkdale to five-under as a result.
DeChambeau was furious with the decision, and even threatened to withdraw from The Open. He had every right to be upset.
There are instances of players doing exactly what he did in every tournament throughout the year and in no way were his actions intentional.
Advertisement
Brandel Chamblee’s take on Bryson DeChambeau’s actions at The Open
Chamblee was speaking on The Golf Channel on Friday night about DeChambeau’s rules violation.
“Paul is talking about the integrity of the rules officials. If there is any grey area they will give the player the benefit of the doubt,” Chamblee said.
Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images
“If there is any way out, they will give the player the benefit of the doubt. How many times have we seen something that looked like a clear infraction but then upon further review you think maybe, or maybe not.
“We saw something if you remember at the US Open with Wyndham Clark on the ninth hole. There is no way that the USGA did not know about it, did not see it, did not talk about it.
Advertisement
“But it was nowhere near as definitive as the evidence against Bryson on the fifth hole. It was a non issue.
“It had some run on social media but it did not get addressed by the USGA. You see it all the time but this was such a clear violation. It is really hard to stomach the silliness that we have seen here from Bryson.
“You accept this like a man. You look at the evidence and you are like ‘you are right, I did break the rule’. This is a clear infraction, what is the penalty?“
It was no surprise that Chamblee decided to take the route that he did. However, to suggest that the incident was so cut and dry is simply ridiculous.
Advertisement
There was actually no conclusive proof that DeChambeau did anything wrong and it’s fair to suggest that the likes of Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler would not have received the same treatment.
Why Brandel Chamblee is totally wrong about Bryson DeChambeau
Chamblee is a great golf analyst at times.
He’s a real straight shooter who unquestionably knows the game inside out.
Photo by Kate McShane/R&A/R&A via Getty Images
However, sometimes he’s blinded by hatred, and that is obvious to see when he is discussing DeChambeau.
Chamblee obviously doesn’t like the fact that the two-time US Open champion joined LIV Golf, and he has never been able to move on from that.
Advertisement
He was penalized two strokes on Friday at The Open because of a really silly error. It was in no way intentional and it certainly wasn’t a ‘clear infraction’ of the rules.
Bryson DeChambeau did himself absolutely no favors by threatening to withdraw from The Open after receiving a two-stroke penalty.
It was petulant behavior, and he almost certainly regrets that now.
However, for Chamblee to suggest that DeChambeau clearly violated the rules was harsh in the extreme.
In my opinion, it was a clumsy error and his behavior after the incident was what he should be criticized for, not the action itself.
It must be said as well, would Chamblee have taken the same stance had it been Rory McIlroy or Scottie Scheffler who committed the rules violation? I genuinely don’t think he would have.
Read the full article here