Bryson DeChambeau's parting words to reporters on Sunday at The Open

Bryson DeChambeau did offer a few words to reporters as his controversial week at The Open came to an end with a frustrating final-round performance at Royal Birkdale. 

DeChambeau came into the fourth round of the final men's major of the year in Southport trailing the 54-hole leader, Sam Burns, by five shots. 

The putts were dropping on the front nine for DeChambeau, but the only trouble was they were to salvage pars. 

DeChambeau's hopes of winning a first Claret Jug were dashed when the American, 32, came untangled on the 11th hole.

After hitting a poor tee shot into trouble, he declared his ball unplayable, which cost him a one-stroke penalty. 

He then had to take relief before continuing the hole. The sequence led to a triple bogey. 

It meant his week ended with on an underwhelming note, with the LIV Golf star posting a frustrating 72 to finish in a share of 14th place. 

So would he offer a few words after a bizarre week that saw him become the talking point? 

Nope. 

DeChambeau politely declined interviews once again but did offer the words: "Have a nice night guys." 

It's likely DeChambeau will remain in the UK for LIV Golf's event next week in Staffordshire, though he could return home to Dallas. 

DeChambeau's week saw him become the pantomime villain in Liverpool. 

He was given a two-shot penalty after Friday's second round when he was judged to have inadvertently improved his swing path on the fifth hole.

Officials said DeChambeau broke rules by trampling down knee-high rough behind his ball.

The R&A stressed that DeChambeau's actions had been accidental but pointed out that the rule still applied.

The 32-year-old American had thought a magnificent round of 66 had left him a shot off the lead at the halfway stage, but as soon as he stepped off the 18th green he was told of the penalty.

DeChambeau asked to return to the scene of the incident and was observed in a heated back-and-forth with Grant Moir, the R&A's director of governance. 

It appeared as if DeChambeau told Moir that he wasn't going to continue the tournament as he had felt so badly mistreated. 

A bizarre evening then unfolded whereby:

• DeChambeau refused to say whether he was going to continue
• He hit balls on the range until it was pitch black
• He asked reporters how his swing looked and even offered snacks to the waiting media

DeChambeau decided to carry on but only confirmed his intentions to do so at 12:02am with a social media post mocking the decision to hand him a penalty. 

The whole situation appeared to delay the release of third round tee times and several players, such as Marco Penge and Justin Thomas, voiced their frustration. 

DeChambeau's Ryder Cup teammates leapt to his defence but Rory McIlroy, unsurprisingly, was the man to put his head above the parapet. 

McIlroy described DeChambeau's behaviour as "performative", adding: "I'm not particularly fond of him."

World number one Scottie Scheffler sparked intrigue when he said after his third round that he had "a lot" to say but hadn't decided what he wanted to share publicly. 

Scheffler did so on Sunday evening.

"I've never seen him cheat once, whether we were having a putting or chipping contest, or anytime we played amateur golf, I never saw anything suspicious," said fellow American Scheffler, who was playing with DeChambeau when the incident occurred.

"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."

DeChambeau was subjected to a few shouts of "cheat" during his final round but Scheffler rejected that statement. 

"All I'll say is I've known him for a long time, and he's a lot of things, but he's definitely not a cheater," said Scheffler. 

Scheffler said he felt the angles of video replays made any reviews far from conclusive, but added: "I think we need to get back to the traditions of the game and maybe we do need to police things a little bit more stricter."