"He would never cheat" - What players at The Open are saying about Bryson DeChambeau

Bryson DeChambeau's two-shot penalty at Royal Birkdale continues to be the talk of The Open.

The American was deemed to have "inadvertently improved the area of his intended swing" before playing his second shot on the fifth hole during the second round of the final men's major of the year. 

DeChambeau's two-shot penalty was enforced after the LIV Golf recruit finished his round.

A furious DeChambeau pleaded his case and was even escorted back to the scene of the incident as he continued to argue with rules officials.

The 32-year-old even threatened, briefly, not to continue his quest for a first Claret Jug as he appeared to be so upset with the whole situation. 

But he confirmed two minutes after midnight that the penalty had fired him up and even posted sarcastic images on his Instagram page appearing to mock the R&A. 

He began the third round trailing leader Lucas Herbert by three shots. 

As he began round, several players who were out in the morning began to offer their opinions. 

Here's what they had to say. 

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Max Homa

On whether it was a fair ruling: "I'm not really, I guess, wanting to be able to decide on fair, because they're the rules officials. 

"I only saw one angle, and in my opinion I didn't agree with the ruling. 

"I know there's another angle that ... side on, it's always hard to tell if it improves anything."

On how DeChambeau reacted: "All I know is I've known Bryson for a very long time, and he's an interesting human at times, but I know he would never cheat the game of golf. 

"I don't really love how it happened. It's not that the R&A said that he did it intentionally, but that rule as a professional golfer feels like it's written inherently to protect against people trying to improve their lie. 

"So I just hope that people don't have that [it] doesn't create a narrative because I don't believe that of him.

"But again, I'm not going to sit here ... it's really hard to tell anything. So yeah, that one is not up for me to judge. 

"But it's a shame how that ruling feels because it seems like ... we were talking about it this morning. 

"It's like you would try to call somebody out in junior golf because you could tell they were stomping around the ball. 

"It didn't look like that to me. But that's not up to me. 

"I just don't think that's in his character, so it's a shame I think that's kind of how it's being portrayed to some."

Xander Schauffele

On whether it was fair: "I don't have social media, so I was wondering why our tee times weren't coming out at about 10:50pm last night. 

"I'm assuming that had something to do with it.

"It's a tough one. Who knows. I have no idea, to be honest. 

"I haven't spoken to him or heard what he said, but he's just stepping in how you'd normally step in to hit a golf shot. 

"I think the R&A said something along the lines of whether it's intentional or not, it's still a penalty.

"It's a tough spot to be, obviously, when you're in high brush, kind of having to dance around to get to your golf ball is a tricky thing. It's not something we're used to doing that often. 

"You imagine you give him the benefit of the doubt; he said he didn't do it intentionally, and it's unfortunate that he got penalised because he was playing incredibly well and obviously he's still playing incredibly well, so he's obviously going to have something to prove these next two days."

Russell Henley

On whether it was harsh: "I saw the video of it. Not being there being able to see it, I don't really have a strong opinion. 

"Clearly they're talking about he improved his backswing. 

"I don't know what it looked like before he came back over there or if the bush came back up after he stepped on it. 

"But yeah, that's a tough one for him."

On whether DeChambeau should've taken the penalty on the chin: "Well, I think it's tough. 

"Every shot is so important. It's tough in the moment to take it no matter. But I would rather know that I did something wrong and be penalised for it. I'd like to know. 

"It's unfortunate, but I think everybody should be held accountable for the same rules.

"The issue with that to me is the fact that he's on TV every shot. 

"If I played that hole yesterday, and I did the same thing, maybe they don't penalise me because maybe they don't see me do it. 

"That's the tough part; he's on TV every single shot."

Rory McIlroy

On his interpretation: "I was watching it live. 

"I was up in the players lounge watching it 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, I think we all [thought] it was pretty obvious for why.

"I think there's no doubt that he improved the line of his backswing.

"Again, it's like, 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."