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Bryson DeChambeau Gets Stunning Two-Shot Penalty After His Second Round at British Open. Here’s What He Did

Andy Nesbitt|
Bryson DeChambeau’s tee shot on the fifth hole landed in the deep rough.
Bryson DeChambeau’s tee shot on the fifth hole landed in the deep rough. | @GolfChannel

Bryson DeChambeau’s brilliant second round at the British Open, which saw him get to seven-under par for the tournament and a shot back of the leader, Lucas Herbert, took a shocking turn moments after he walked off the 18th green when he was issued a two-shot penalty for something he did way back on the fifth hole.

DeChambeau immediately objected to the ruling and then went out to the fifth hole with two rules officials where he was seen getting pretty heated while defending his actions on the shot in question.

Winners and Losers From Second Round of British Open: The TV Broadcast Had One Major Failure

Here’s what happened on that shot: DeChambeau’s tee shot on the short par-4 5th landed in the deep rough right of the green. He was seen walking around the rough to get a look at his ball and also a look at the pin. Officials ruled that he improved his lie by stomping down some of the long grass behind his ball and issued a two-shot penalty.

Here’s a look at the shot in question:

Jim Furyk had this to say on the broadcast about DeChambeau’s process during that controversial moment.

“So right before this video started, Bryson backed up,” Furyk said. “You can see the fescue behind him, the grass behind him is pushed backwards. He backed up into it. He laid it down a little bit. It’s noticeable, it’s about three steps. And now his ball is forward of that. Would it have affected his swing I think is really the question. He’s playing the ball way back in his stance, he has a very vertical upright swing, he’s hacking down onto this ball—I think Bryson’s saying that ‘hey, that would not have impeded my swing’ and I think the R&A is questioning that and that’s what they were talking about this whole time.”

Here’s how things played out in the wild moments after his round:

That’s just not something we’re used to seeing at the end of a round in a major championship, or any golf tournament for that matter.

Here’s Chief Rules Referee at The Open, Grant Moir, explaining the penalty:

What this penalty means for DeChambeau’s British Open

Initially, DeChambeau shot a 7-under 66 that put him into second place. He would have been in the final group on Saturday with Herbert, who shot a 62 on Friday to take the solo lead.

Now with the penalty DeChambeau carded a 68, which drops him to five-under for the tournament and into a tie for fifth with Sam Burns and Si Woo Kim.

DeChambeau’s agent said after the ruling that there is a chance that he doesn’t play on Saturday, which would be even more stunning than the penalty.

This was just a wild thing to see play out, especially after DeChambeau lit up the back nine with birdies on his final two holes.

UPDATE: DeChambeau says he will be playing this weekend:

Now he will have to regroup in a hurry and put this behind him because he’s still very much in contention heading into the weekend.

This is the first cut DeChambeau has made at a major championship this year, and nobody could have predicted it would have come with all the drama that followed after his final putt.

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Andy Nesbitt
ANDY NESBITT

Andy Nesbitt is the assistant managing editor of audience engagement at Sports Illustrated. He works closely with the Breaking and Trending News team to shape SI’s daily coverage across all sports. A 20-year veteran of the sports media business, he has worked for Fox Sports, For the Win, The Boston Globe and NBC Sports, having joined SI in February 2023. Nesbitt is a golf fanatic who desperately wants to see the Super Bowl played on a Saturday night.

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