Bryson DeChambeau in Open row: penalty costs American in title charge

The incident occured at the fifth hole of his Friday afternoon round.

Bryson DeChambeau of the United States with his caddie Greg Bodine on the 18th green. Pic: AP Photo/Jon Super

All eyes will be on Bryson DeChambeau on day three of The Open Championship following the controversial decision to dock the American two strokes for a rules infraction that threatened to derail his scintillating title bid.

The two-time US Open champion, who had missed all three of his previous major cuts this season, had surged into contention at Royal Birkdale on Friday evening with a second-round 66 which took him to within a shot of the halfway lead held by Australia’s Lucas Herbert at eight under par.

DeChambeau thought he had played his way into the final group alongside his LIV Tour rival heading out on Saturday for the third round as he signed for his 66, only to be questioned by rules officials about an incident during the fifth hole of his Friday afternoon round.

The 32-year-old was asked to accompany officials, led by the R&A’s chief of referees Grant Moir, back to the fifth to explain his actions before ahead of an approach shot from greenside rough. DeChambeau trampled down long grass behind his ball before making his address with rules officials questioning whether he had improved his lie in the process, thereby incurring a penalty.

The golfer was seen to be forcefully arguing his case but could not avoid picking up a two-stroke penalty, sending his second-round score from a 66 to a two-under 68 and from outright second place to tied for fifth at five under par. He will now tee off in the third from last group alongside compatriot Sam Burns at 3:30pm on Saturday while Herbert’s partner in the final group will now be another American, Jackson Suber, at 3:50pm. Both Herbert and Burns had made Open history earlier on Friday when they each carded record-equalling men’s major championship low rounds of 62, yet the rules controversy overshadowed their feats.

A visibly upset and frustrated DeChambeau was understood to have threatened to quit the tournament at one point during the rules determination before heading to the Birkdale practice range to hit balls as the evening light faded, while the Open Championship rules chief attempted to defuse the situation with an explanation of his decision to media.

Moir, the R&A Executive Director, Governance, was keen to portray the penalty as accidental rather than a deliberate attempt to cheat, thereby removing a stigma that could have lived with DeChambeau through the rest of his career.

“Bryson has been penalised two strokes for inadvertently improving the area of his intended swing, so intended backswing on the fifth hole when he was playing his second shot,” Moir said.

“Basically I'm going to explain the technicalities of the rule here for you. Ruling 1 restricts what a player may do to improve any of the protected conditions affecting the stroke, and this includes the area of the player's intended swing. So an improvement means to alter one or more of the conditions affecting the stroke so that the player gains a potential advantage for the stroke.

“Now, I'll stress that this applies even when the action is accidental, as it was in Bryson's case.

“The area of intended swing includes the entire area that might reasonably affect any part of the backswing, the downswing or the completion of the swing for the intended stroke, and importantly, what the prohibited action here is that the player mustn't move, bend or break any growing or attached natural object.

“A player is allowed to fairly take their stance by taking reasonable actions to get to the ball and take a stance, if in some situations that improves the condition affecting the stroke, but when doing so, the player must take the least intrusive course of action to deal with the particular situation and is not entitled to a normal stance or swing.

“I would reiterate this rule applies even when there's no intention to improve the area, as was the case with Bryson. That's all I have to say.”