Marco Penge slammed the “joke” Bryson DeChambeau shambles that disrupted rivals at The Open, writes Craig Swan at Royal Birkdale. The Englishman was fuming on Friday night as he awaited confirmation on his start time for Saturday morning.
Players Left in the Dark
Penge and Justin Thomas both took to social media to bemoan being left in the dark over their third-round starts. Rumours swirled that DeChambeau might pull out of Royal Birkdale due to a two-shot penalty, and R&A officials delayed releasing times. Eventually, word reached affected players, but Penge, who started at 10.45am, called it out after his round.
“Yeah, it was a bit of a joke really,” Penge said. “I’m staying at home this week, which is an hour away, and not getting a tee time until 11pm is not great, really. We could have at least got a heads up for what time the first tee time was going to be. Obviously there was a lot of commotion, so that delayed things.”
DeChambeau's Decision Causes Chaos
Penge added: “I mean, clearly it was, what I presumed on social media, that Bryson was deciding whether he was going to play or not. I presume until they were told whether he was going to play, then we wouldn’t get the tee time until then.” DeChambeau was roared into the first tee by the Birkdale crowds when he got going mid-afternoon, but the delay affected the other 77 players in the Saturday field.
When asked if the Friday delay was unfair, Penge continued: “Nothing to do with me, but, yeah, that’s what some players are like, or some people are like. It’s one of those things. Hopefully we’ll get told our tee-time [for Sunday] a little earlier tonight.”
Penge Avoids Ruling Debate
Penge stayed out of debating the ruling which saw DeChambeau punished, but said: “I probably shouldn’t give my opinion on it. Yeah, I mean, you can obviously see on the TV. Everyone has got their own opinion of the scenario. With it being so burnt out, as well. I remember day one, four times on the front nine I was in the semi-rough and I didn’t ground the club or get anywhere near it because your club is slipping all over the place, so it’s so easy to make a mistake by accident. That one, I’ll leave that to everyone else.”
He added: “If I was in that position, I’d just be very careful where I’m standing and how I get into the ball and make sure I don’t improve my lie. I would never want anyone to think I was doing that. That’s how I would deal with it. But yeah.”
