Bryson Dechambeau made ‘Trump request’ in talks over Open penalty | Golf | Sport

Bryson DeChambeau called for US President Donald Trump to be included in tense talks over his two-shot penalty at the Open. The LIV golf star was handed the punishment after being judged to have inadvertently improved his lie in the rough on the fifth hole on day two of the tournament.

And his animated discussions with R&A chief Grant Moir saw him remonstrate at the scene of the crime following his round. Now, per Geoff Shackelford, in his 30-minute discussion with the R&A, including chief executive Mark Darbon, it is claimed that DeChambeau requested Trump’s involvement in the competition taking place at Royal Birkdale in Southport.

DeChambeau threatened not to play on day three of the Open after being informed of his punishment, which saw a round of 66 adjusted to a 68. His anger was not tempered by being shown a video replay.

Bitter rival Rory McIlroy criticised DeChambeau’s actions as he held up the rest of the tournament with his end-of-day protests.

“I think there’s no doubt that he improved the line of his backswing,” McIlroy said. “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.”

“I won’t pretend to defend Bryson,” he continued. “I’m not particularly fond of him. I think a lot of it’s performative. I think a lot of it’s for attention.

“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.”

R&A boss Darbon was asked if he had received a call from Trump in the aftermath. The US President has previously been in contact with the chief executive in a bid to take the Open to Turnberry, the course he owns in Ayrshire.

“No,” Darbon said. “I have not received a call from President Trump, and we’ll see what happens from here.”

While it’s unclear what jurisdiction Trump would have to impact the decision at the Open, the Apprentice star recently contacted FIFA chief Gianni Infantino after Folarin Balogun received a red card. While the US striker did not see his sending off overturned, he did not receive the expected one-match ban following that.

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Speaking in the build-up to the World Cup final, Trump was self-congratulatory in his assessment of the tournament. “You had unforgettable moments, like probably the most unforgettable is when they gave that gentleman [a red card],” Trump said.

“And I was forced to call Gianni and just make a recommendation. I said, Gianni, I’d like to make a recommendation. Let the guy in the game. No, I didn’t say that. I said, I’d like to wage a complaint. And actually, I had no idea what was going to happen.”

“You know, it’s so much better … because there’s no controversy,” he continued. “They won the game, and our team had all of its players. Think of it, if he didn’t allow him, they’d say: ‘We would have won the game if we had our best players.’ So Gianni made yet another of his many good decisions.”