Scottie Scheffler was the beneficiary of a very favourable call in the final round of The Open Championship in the latest chapter of a rules controversy that has been the talk of the weekend.

Scheffler carded six birdies in a final round of 67 and was in the hunt for victory at Royal Birkdale but three bogeys on the back nine left the defending champion with too much to do as he finished at seven under after a rollercoaster final round.

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The world number one’s defence of the Claret Jug has been blighted by poor putting.

Scheffler began the final round six back, but halved that deficit with three birdies in his opening five holes.

But bogeys at the 13th, 15th and 18th ensured he will end 2026 without adding to his four major wins.

There was drama on the 17th hole when Scheffler’s wayward drive went past the hospitality area and his ball could not be found.

But after lengthy discussions between Scheffler, his caddie and officials, he was allowed a free ball drop without a penalty stroke, and went on to birdie the par-5 hole.

The decision not to hand Scheffler a penalty, because his ball landed past the hospitality are, has sparked debate around golf’s Temporary Immovable Obstruction (TIO) rules.

“The rules official said it landed just barely left of the grandstand thing. I don’t know what you call that, like a sponsor area or something,” Scheffler said after his final round.

“When we get up there, it’s past the fence that marks the TIO, so he said anything that’s in there is it part of the TIO.

“I said, if I find it, does that help me; can I drop it — since that would be about 50 yards closer to the hole. He said, yes, you can then use that spot, but you might have to go to the other side of the TIO, which I didn’t know exactly where that would be, and that’s not a great angle coming across there.

“So decided to stop the search and go back and drop it doing point-of-entry TIO relief. Actually I did that once this year during the Byron as well. Not something I’m proud of but I was familiar with.”

Scheffler added: “I stopped them (looking for his ball). They had guys pointing from up there, like it landed right here, and I just kind of hauled up there, and I was like, guys, get out of there, stop, do not find the ball.

“Fortunately it was my security guy that I’ve had for a few years here. I said, please don’t look for the ball, they got out of there.”

The incident is sure to reignite a golf rules debate after Bryson DeChambeau was handed a controversial two-shot penalty for stepping on grass to improve his backswing from the rough during his second round.

That penalty ultimately did not prove decisive in the destiny of the championship.

DeChambeau’s final round challenge fell away with a triple bogey seven at the 11th to fall to four under with four holes remaining.

New Zealand’s Ryan Fox fired four birdies on the back nine, including a clutch birdie on the 18th hole to win The Open Championship in thrilling fashion.

Fox carded a two-under round of 68 to finish at 10-under and claim his maiden major victory.

American Cameron Young was the clubhouse leader at 9-under after a blistering round of 64 and it looked like a three-hole playoff was on the cards, before Fox made sure of his victory on the 72nd hole.

The wait since 1992 for an English winner of the British Open is set to continue after Tommy Fleetwood finished in a tie for fourth with Scheffler at 7-under

Rory McIlroy was never truly in contention to land his seventh major and ended with a 71 to finish at one under par for the tournament.

“Any time I got a little bit of momentum out there, I seemed to make a bogey,” said the world number two.

“Just one of those weeks I couldn’t get it going.”

Australia’s Lucas Herbert finished tied for sixth after shooting 1-over in his final round.

– With AFP