Bryson DeChambeau walked off the course Friday at the Open Championship in Southport, England, carrying more than just his clubs — he left with a two-stroke penalty attached to his scorecard after R&A rules officials ruled he had taken steps to improve “the area of his intended swing” on a shot that had occurred 13 holes prior.
For several hours, the golf world was left wondering whether DeChambeau would even show up for the weekend. He refused to speak with reporters after the ruling, and his agent, Brett Falkoff, told the media he was “100 percent” serious when DeChambeau appeared to tell rules officials he would not return for Saturday’s third round.
Then, just after midnight local time, DeChambeau cleared things up with a social media post.
“Obviously disappointed with the ruling,” he wrote. “I don’t agree with it, but it is what it is. This fires me up. Onto the weekend. Let’s get it.”
DeChambeau, a well-known and polarizing figure on the LIV Golf circuit, had originally posted a 4-under 66 to reach 7 under par, sitting just one shot back of Australia’s Lucas Herbert. With the penalty applied, his bogey 5 on the par-4 fifth hole was converted to a triple-bogey 7, dropping him to 5 under and three shots behind Herbert heading into the weekend.
The change in standings also reshuffled Saturday’s pairings. Jackson Suber will now join Herbert in the final group. DeChambeau is set to tee off alongside Sam Burns — who carded an impressive 62 on Friday — at 10:30 a.m. ET, followed by Cameron Young and Ryan Gerard, with Suber and Herbert closing out the field.
The incident stemmed from DeChambeau’s tee shot at the par-4 fifth hole, which sailed well to the right and came to rest in a native area of tall grass. Video replay showed DeChambeau stepping down on patches of tall grass near his ball — an action officials determined may not have affected the ball’s lie, but did potentially clear the path for his swing.
DeChambeau pushed back hard against the ruling. Officials escorted him back to the location of the incident before he could sign his scorecard, and U.S. television cameras captured a lengthy, animated exchange in which DeChambeau could be seen gesturing emphatically as he made his case.
His agent later defended him to reporters. “He’s a lot of things. He’s not a cheater,” Falkoff said. “He’s a big boy. He’ll see how he feels. But he certainly feels he was unfairly penalized.”
More than an hour after his round wrapped up, the R&A made their ruling official. DeChambeau’s updated score appeared on the large leaderboard near the 18th green while he was on the driving range, hitting balls after leaving the scoring area with his team.
Cameras had earlier caught DeChambeau appearing to say “I just won’t play tomorrow” to rules officials before everyone climbed into carts to head back to the scoring trailer for the final decision.
It’s worth noting that DeChambeau didn’t have the option to play the weekend at any of the first three majors this year — he missed the cut at the Masters, the PGA Championship, and the U.S. Open.
The R&A clarified that the penalty was specifically about the swing path, not the ball’s position. Grant Moir, the R&A’s executive director for governance, explained the ruling to reporters: “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.”
