Bryson DeChambeau found his ball in the fescue left of Royal Birkdale’s 5th hole Friday afternoon, and as he measured how to play it, he stepped on and around the grass before hitting his second shot. USA Network cameras captured the sequence. After the round, rules officials pulled him aside, walked him back to the spot, and debated whether his footwork had improved the area around the ball.
They decided it had. The R&A assessed a two-stroke penalty under Rule 8.1b, which prohibits a player from moving, bending, or breaking growing or attached natural objects that affect the stroke — even accidentally.
DeChambeau’s bogey became a triple-bogey 7. He dropped from second place, one shot off the lead, to a tie for fifth, three behind Australia’s Lucas Herbert. Then he went to the range, and his agent, Brett Falkoff, told reporters at the course that DeChambeau was undecided about continuing.
“He’s a lot of things,” Falkoff said. “He’s not a cheater.”
For several hours, the golf world waited. DeChambeau did not speak to reporters Friday and had not held a formal press session all week. Then, around midnight Saturday in England, his social media accounts lit up.
“Obviously disappointed with the ruling,” DeChambeau wrote on X. “I don’t agree with it, but it is what it is. This fires me up. Onto the weekend. Let’s get it.”
His Instagram post carried the caption “Onto the weekend…” with eight photos — two of them cut-out images that leaned into the controversy. One showed a photo-shopped DeChambeau hovering above the fescue patch on the 5th hole, captioned “walking into the weekend like…” Another featured him alongside two rules officials at the scene where the ruling was made. Multiple times during that post-round review, DeChambeau appeared visibly agitated.
Grant Moir, the R&A’s executive director of governance, explained the ruling to reporters. DeChambeau was penalized “for inadvertently improving the area of his intended swing, so intended backswing on the 5th hole when he was playing his second shot.” Moir stressed that the rule applies even when the action is accidental, as it was in this case. A player may fairly take their stance, Moir said, but must take “the least intrusive course of action” and is not entitled to a normal stance or swing.
DeChambeau confirmed he will play the third round, teeing off at 3:30 p.m. local time (10:30 a.m. ET) alongside Sam Burns in the third-to-last group. Burns fired a 62 on Friday to surge into contention, matching Herbert’s number. The two Americans will play directly behind the pairing of Ryan Gerard and Cameron Young, with Lucas Herbert in the final group at 3:50 p.m.
Rory McIlroy goes off at 12:20 p.m. with Jacob Bridgeman. Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm, and Tommy Fleetwood are all within striking distance but need a strong Saturday to close the gap.
DeChambeau enters the weekend three shots back with 36 holes to play. According to golf statistician Justin Ray, no player in the modern era has missed the cut in the first three majors of a season and then won the fourth. DeChambeau missed the weekend at the Masters, the PGA Championship, and the U.S. Open this year. Whether the penalty fuels him or lingers is the question Royal Birkdale will answer over the next two days.
Sources
- Is Bryson DeChambeau playing Open after controversy? He takes to social media — Yahoo Sports
- The Open round three tee times including Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau — Yahoo Sports
- Bryson DeChambeau finally breaks silence after being given a two-shot penalty at The Open — Yahoo Sports