Bryson DeChambeau Ignored The Media At The Open... Is It Right Or Should It Be Mandatory For Players To Answer Questions?

'Inside The Ropes' is the chance for Golf Monthly's expert team to share its honest thoughts on the biggest subjects in the game. This time, it's all about players not speaking to the media.

Two-time Major winner Bryson DeChambeau largely ignored the gathered media at The Open Championship last week.

He answered some questions from an in-house reporter after Thursday's play, but it was radio silence thereafter by a player who always has plenty to say.

The great shame of this fact was highlighted following a rules controversy on Friday where DeChambeau was adjudged to have improved his swing path on the fifth hole, consequently leading to a two-stroke penalty.

DeChambeau was aggrieved at the decision - that much was obvious. He demonstrably made his case to rules officials on site before posting on social media to say he did not agree with the decision.

It later emerged that the LIV golfer even wanted to bring US president Donald Trump in on the matter, according to reports.

Yet, due to DeChambeau's decision to avoid speaking with the media for the remainder of The Open Championship, no one was able to hear or understand his perspective or the finer details around which The Scientist was apparently trying to make his case.

And, as fans, that seems a shame. All we really wanted was to hear the Californian explain what had happened from his point of view. However, all we actually read was a short statement via social media.

With no clear explanation, two obvious camps developed online with each having unequivocally made up their minds about who was at fault during the inadvertent rules breach. Those extremes could have been avoided with just a little communication. Or maybe not, it is social media after all.

Either way, DeChambeau isn't the first golfer to avoid the media and, unfortunately for all of us, he probably won't be the last.

Collin Morikawa is another recent example of someone who stated he "didn't owe anyone anything" in terms of pre-round or post-round quotes while Rory McIlroy usurped media duties during the PGA Championship in 2025.

But is that right? Should pro golfers, whose careers partly depend on engagement with fans, be allowed to avoid speaking to the media or should it be mandatory?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments box below. For now, three of our tour experts - including one who was at The Open last week - share their views.

Elliott Heath

EH: I was on-site at Royal Birkdale to witness Bryson DeChambeau walk past all of us in the mixed zone and it really did not sit well with me.

DeChambeau is certainly not the first golfer to decline media duties and he is well within his rights to - as there is nothing that says they are mandated to speak to the press.

He is a polarizing figure who does regularly get bad press, so can you really blame him for not wanting to talk to us when he can instead speak directly to his fans on social media?

I don't blame him at all, but I don't think it should be allowed to happen. I think the Major organizers and the tours need to get players to tick a box when they enter an event or join as a member to agree they must speak to the gathering media if requested.

EH: This would create more news articles, videos, social media posts and more in-depth and interesting coverage of the tournaments, so players speaking to the press benefits the tours and the tournaments.

It only takes them 10 minutes and I believe it is part of the job as an athlete who is able to earn millions in prize money and endorsements. Why do they earn so much money? Because fans tune in by purchasing tickets and TV subscriptions.

The fans deserve to hear the players' thoughts on their experience or how they saw things from the round, respond to fair questioning and discuss newsworthy talking points.

Communicating directly on social media, via a paid member of staff or agency, rarely offers up full transparency or context. Sadly, I struggle to see this changing and call on the organizations to do more.

Jonny Leighfield

JL: I'm really in two minds about this topic because, as Elliott points out, it really does benefit more people for players to speak to the media than by going down the route of only positing on their own social media channels.

Then again, if players were contractually obligated to do so, I can't help but feel we'd see some resentful players turning up and being difficult.

We could end up seeing the golf equivalent of Marshawn Lynch's famous "I'm just here so I don't get fined" one day, which might be quite funny at first, but too many occasions like that would become farcical.

On that topic, one idea to encourage players into engaging with the media is by fining them should they skip more than a couple of press conference requests per season. I'm sure a similar scenario is in effect regarding pro-ams, which I'm sure some players might occasionally find tiresome, so why not implement that with the media?

Ultimately, it'd be great if players always spoke to the media but I understand why, on occasion, they might not want to. However, a long-term icing by players is not the way forward and only serves to harm the sport from which they make their names.

Matt Cradock

MC: I can see both sides of the argument, depending on whether I have my golf writer's hat on or my golf-fan hat on.

If I had to fall on one-side, though, I'd say yes, players should have to speak to media. They're playing a professional sport, in the public eye, in front of millions of people. The fact that we as fans would miss out on any explanation of things they do on the course wouldn't be right.

Yes, I completely understand that they may be angry following a poor round, controversial moment or when they've thrown away the championship, but this is often when we get the most interesting quotes from the world's best.

Some will agree and others will disagree, and I suppose one way of giving players freedom, but not restricting them from media, is to introduce a similar strike system we have with the Code of Conduct, which a few players fell foul of during The Open Championship.

If a player is asked to do media and refuses, they receive a strike. The first one is a warning, but if they do it again they receive a shot penalty. That might make them think twice about whether they skip it or not.