DC300
I understand your argument about Spieth's situation in the Open Championship with regard to the amount of time it took. But if he's using the "rules" of golf to his advantage, which much of the time in most circles (even at the highest level) presents a disadvantage to the players involved - not sure how one could claim it cheating.
He was entitled relief from the immovable obstruction, per the rules. That process required the officials (and the player) dotting all of the i's and crossing all of the t's to avoid a controversial situation. Where Jordan hit his ball was not out-of-bounds. His nearest relief given the equipment trailers required rules officials to determine where his relief would be, given the immovable obstructions. Although it ended up being a lengthy process, Jordan was within his rights, within the rules, to take the necessary relief options.
That's not cheating. That's using the rules to one's advantage. And if it takes the ruling officials an inordinate amount of time to arrive on-scene, and then to declare where the initial relief would be, and then to declare where relief would thereby be granted given the immovable obstruction - that's not on the player. That is more of an issue with how the tournament officials setup the course and their negligence in not taking into account that that particular situation might end up occurring.
If Jordan doesn't make that up-n-down from green-side on that hole - there is no controversy. But since he did, suddenly there is?
Don't blame the player and accuse him of cheating. Instead, credit him for using the rules (which often put players at a significant disadvantage) to avoid effectively removing himself from a chance of winning the competition outright.
If he broke a rule - I could understand the argument. He did not break a rule in that situation, but rather followed the rules by the letter. Not sure how that equates to cheating.
People forget Tiger's situation back on the 13th hole at the Phoenix Open back in '99, where he needed a crew of gallery members to remove a huge-ass boulder that was obstructing his shot to the green from a desert lie. Which, by virtue of the huge desert boulder not being "embedded" - was within the rules as well. Although there might've been "ethical" questions regarding his fans removing the rock - it was still within the rules, per the rules. And I seem to recall in that particular situation that it likewise took an inordinate amount of time for him to hit his next shot.
The rules are the rules, and when they (rarely) provide an advantage to a player - players are obviously at liberty to use them to their advantage.
Such was the case with Spieth this past year, just as it was with Tiger back in '99.