SOUTHPORT, England, July 17 (Reuters) – Bryson DeChambeau was handed a two-stroke penalty for inadvertently improving his lie on the fifth hole during the British Open second round on Friday, dropping him from solo second place into a tie for fifth, three shots off the lead.
DeChambeau’s agent had said the American would decide on Saturday whether to return to Royal Birkdale for the third round but the golfer stated on social media that he would play on.
“Obviously disappointed with the ruling. I don’t agree with it, but it is what it is. This fires me up. Onto the weekend. Let’s get it,” DeChambeau said on X.
The 32-year-old, who missed the cut at the year’s first three majors, capped his second round with a pair of birdies for a four-under 66 that brought him to seven under on the week and one back of halfway leader and fellow LIV golfer Lucas Herbert.
But DeChambeau was confronted by a rules official and informed of the penalty. So they returned to the par-four fifth to analyse the scene where earlier he sent a tee shot into the thick grass and was seen taking practice swings and walking back and forth near his ball before hitting his second shot.
The big-hitting fan favourite became engaged in an animated discussion with the official as he passionately tried to plead his case but ultimately looked visibly frustrated as he returned to the scoring area on a golf cart.
More than an hour after his second round was completed, twice major champion DeChambeau was penalised under rule 8.1 and his score on the fifth was changed to triple-bogey from bogey.
“Bryson has been penalised two strokes for inadvertently improving the area of intended backswing on fifth hole,” said R&A rules official Grant Moir.
DeChambeau was later seen hitting balls on the driving range at Royal Birkdale.
Golf Channel said they spoke to DeChambeau’s agent and caddie who said that while the golfer may have unintentionally stepped on some tall grass around his ball, it was not the line or path that he was swinging to and so did not improve his lie.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Writing by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Additional reporting by Angelica Medina; Editing by Pritha Sarkar and Ken Ferris)
