The Open 2019: Xander Schauffele accuses R&A of ‘trying to ruin his image’ after ‘cheater’ shouts

The American was forced to change driver after an R&A test found his club to be non-conforming with regulations

Carl Markham
Royal Portrush
Sunday 21 July 2019 00:18 BST
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The Open Championship in numbers

Angry American Xander Schauffele raged at the R&A after being called a cheat by a fellow professional for having a non-conforming driver at Royal Portrush.

Although the taunt was made in jest, the 25-year-old was less than impressed and directed his ire at the game’s governing body.

Schauffele’s driver was one of 30 selected for random testing at the start of the week and found to be non-compliant, forcing the former PGA Tour rookie of the year to use a different club in his first-round before making adjustments to the original for rounds two and three.

He remains unimpressed, however, that details of the infringement got out and he laid the blame firmly at the feet of the R&A.

“The R&A, they p***ed me off because they attempted to ruin my image by not keeping this matter private,” said Schauffele, who despite the distraction shot a 69 to sit at five-under for the tournament.

“This is me coming out and treating them the exact way they treated me.

“The only time I am an unhappy camper is when I feel like I’m treated unfairly.

“It is an unsettling topic. I’ve been called a cheater by my fellow opponents. It’s all joking, but when someone yells “cheater” in front of 200 people, to me it’s not going to go down very well.

“It was a player out here. I’m cool with him, as well. He thought it was funny but that’s not something you joke about.”

Schauffele hit out at the R&A

Schauffele reiterated his call for all drivers to be tested and not just a few selected at random.

“I don’t sit at home and test my driver, you know. To my best belief, I was playing a conforming driver,” he added.

“To make it fair they should test everybody. Other drivers failed, I’ll just say it. This matter should be private, but the R&A didn’t do their job in keeping it private.

“This whole thing was a bit of a stir for my whole team. I can deal with certain things if the variables are controlled, but in this situation we’re sort of thrown in a nice little hodgepodge, if you want to call it.

The American shot a two-under-par 69 on Saturday

“It was just handled unprofessionally and it did tick me off, for sure.”

The R&A acknowledged Schauffele’s complaints but stressed the matter would remain private.

“We always listen to feedback from players and have done so in this situation. We will continue to treat this as a private and confidential matter,” said a spokesman.

PA

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