SOUTHPORT, England — Bryson DeChambeau received a two-shot penalty following his second round of The Open on Friday after officials deemed that he improved the area of his intended swing on the fifth hole.
The ruling dropped DeChambeau from solo second place, just one shot off Lucas Herbert’s lead, and into a tie for fifth, three shots behind.
It also touched off an hours-long spectacle at Royal Birkdale that went deep into the night and left his weekend participation in question.
Though DeChambeau didn’t speak with the media afterward, his agent, Brett Falkoff, told reporters that DeChambeau felt as though he was wrongly penalized and that he would decide Saturday morning whether he’d withdraw from the tournament in protest.
The ruling stemmed from DeChambeau’s fifth hole, where he sailed a drive wide right into the native area that was so far off-line that he played a provisional. Spotters found his initial tee shot, buried deep in the tall grass, and a head-on video showed DeChambeau moving around the area to sort out his options. From there, he hacked out over the back of the green and made his only bogey of the day.
Officials later informed DeChambeau that he had violated Rule 8.1a, for inadvertently improving his intended swing by stomping around some of the taller grass directly behind his ball, in a path that was not the “least intrusive.”
The R&A said in a statement that DeChambeau’s actions were accidental, but that intent did not matter in this situation.
“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,” the statement read, “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.”
In an attempt to protest the ruling, DeChambeau asked a rules official to return to the area on the fifth hole, and he was taken by cart to go through a fuller explanation. With the discussion captured on camera, DeChambeau grew increasingly agitated, at one point waving his arms wildly. He was captured telling the official that, if he’s penalized, he’s “not playing tomorrow.”
Once returning to the scoring area to official sign his scorecard – which had been changed from a 66 to 68 – DeChambeau was accompanied by a handful of R&A executives, including CEO Mark Darbon and Grant Moir, the organization’s executive director of governance.
DeChambeau never stopped to talk to the media to discuss the infraction, asking more than two dozen reporters on the way out, “Is everybody having a good day?”
In the fading light, at 9:40 p.m., more than an hour and a half after finishing his second round, DeChambeau headed to the range. Surrounded by seven members of his team, he posted up in stall No. 2 and proceeded to work through his bag.
At one point, DeChambeau’s agent stopped briefly to chat with reporters. He reiterated that DeChambeau felt as though he was unfairly penalized and that the entire situation was “unfortunate.”
Falkoff said that DeChambeau was “undecided” about whether he would continue playing.
“He’s a lot of things,” Falkoff said. “But he’s not a cheater.”
The range session lasted nearly 50 minutes, with DeChambeau stopping occasionally to look at video, seeing how some of the data compared to the round of 58 that he shot at Greenbrier in 2024, and to discuss with swing coach Dana Dahlquist the amount of pressure he was applying into his left foot and downswing position.
At one point, he turned to the crowd of waiting media and asked, “What do you guys think of the swing right now?” He also offered snacks from his bag, almonds and beef sticks.
It wasn’t until 10:28, with the range illuminated only by the electronic scoreboard, that he ended his day. He struck one fairway wood, punctuating it with, “That felt pretty good, dude.” And then, finally: “That’s it!”
He handed a glove to a volunteer who had stood watch, then headed off into the night flanked by his agent.
When asked if he wanted to share his side of the saga that has overshadowed this Open, DeChambeau said, “Nah, I’m good. Thank you.”
The clock was already ticking toward his 3:30 p.m. tee time.
