Why Bryson DeChambeau was handed a two-shot penalty at The Open
Bryson DeChambeau was assessed a two-shot penalty at The Open. Here’s what happened and why the ruling was made.
The Open
Bryson DeChambeau’s surge up the 2026 Open Championship leaderboard came to an abrupt halt when tournament officials assessed him a two-stroke penalty for a rules violation during Round 2, an R&A official confirmed on Friday, July 17.
DeChambeau had just finished what appeared to be a second consecutive resurgent round playing alongside Scottie Scheffler at Royal Birkdale, vaulting into second place behind leader Lucas Herbert when the post-round drama began to unfold. Cameras showed DeChambeau emerging from the scoring tent in an animated discussion with a rules official. A report from the USA Sports broadcast indicated it stemmed from a disagreement related to how DeChambeau approached his second shot on the fifth hole.
“The rules official said I improved my lie,” DeChambeau said to his associates as he left the scoring tent, according to the report.
Though there was speculation that DeChambeau might pull out after being dropped to three shots off the lead, he took to social media to indicate otherwise, even though he was disappointed by the ruling.
“This fires me up. Onto the weekend. Let’s get it,” he posted,
DeChambeau’s wayward drive at the fifth hole landed in long fescue grass and replays showed him walking over and stepping on long grass in a manner that could have potentially improved circumstances for his backswing. DeChambeau and the rules official eventually took a golf cart back to the scene of the shot at No. 5 to “discuss his actions,” according to R&A rules official Charlie Maran.
“It’s something that came up as the day has unfolded,” Maran explained on the Open Championship broadcast.
A visibly agitated DeChambeau then appeared to plead his case from the fescue that had caused his only bogey of the round. DeChambeau’s manager, Brett Falkoff, told Golfweek that DeChambeau wasn’t informed of the possible rules violation until after his round was over and DeChambeau requested to go back to the fifth hole.
“They feel he wasn’t careful enough around a sensitive area and improved his swing path,” Falkoff said.
Falkoff said “your guess is as good as mine” when asked if DeChambeau would still play in Saturday’s third round at the Open Championship after Friday’s controversial conclusion.
But DeChambeau indicated on social media that he will play.
“Obviously disappointed with the ruling,” he posted. “I don’t agree with it, but it is what it is. This fires me up. Onto the weekend. Let’s get it.”
DeChambeau officially signed for a triple bogey 7 on No. 5 on his scorecard and sits at 5-under for the tournament, three strokes back of the lead.
R&A referee Grant Moir said DeChambeau received a two-stroke penalty even though he didn’t intend to improve his lie or backswing and explained the rules infraction in a statement issued to reporters in the aftermath of the controversial ruling.
The rule in question, Moir noted, “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. … I will stress this applies even when the action is accidental, as it was in Bryson’s case.”
DeChambeau’s prohibited action in this case, according to Moir, pertained to the portion of the rule that states “a player mustn’t move, bend or break any growing or attached natural object,” Moir said. “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. This rule applies even when there’s no intention to improve the area, as was the case with Bryson.”
