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The Four Funniest Photos to Come Out of Bryson DeChambeau’s Farcical British Open Controversy

Kristen Wong|
Bryson DeChambeau was seen animatedly arguing his two-stroke penalty on the 5th hole at the British Open on Friday.
Bryson DeChambeau was seen animatedly arguing his two-stroke penalty on the 5th hole at the British Open on Friday. | Screengrab on Twitter/@golfchannel

The 2026 British Open saw its first controversy during the second round on Friday, and of course it involved Bryson DeChambeau.

DeChambeau was playing some of his best golf in a while and stood at seven-under for the championship after firing a four-under 66 on Friday. But then after his round he got slapped with a two-shot penalty for inadvertently improving the the area of his intended swing, per The Open’s Chief Referee Grant Moir. That dropped him from second place to a tie for fifth heading into the weekend at Royal Birkdale.

On the fifth hole, DeChambeau’s tee shot landed in the deep rough into a patch of tall grass. He was then seen walking through the grass to get a better look at the ball before hitting the shot. Officials ultimately ruled that DeChambeau improved his lie by stomping down on the tall grass behind his ball, warranting a two-shot penalty.

Under Rule 8.1 of the R&A’s Rules of Golf, players are restricted from doing certain things to improve any of the “protected conditions” affecting the stroke. These include improving the lie of the ball at rest as well as the area of the player’s intended stance and swing, the latter of which is what DeChambeau was deemed guilty of doing.

All that to say, DeChambeau was clearly not happy with the official ruling, and now has a revised second round score of 68 and is five-under for the tournament which has him tied for fifth with Sam Burns and Si Woo Kim (DeChambeau was previously in second place before the penalty).

It’s bad news for Bryson, but the controversy produced plenty of funny photos that even the casual golf fan would enjoy.

Let’s take a look at the first, which shows DeChambeau riding a golf cart with one of The Open’s rules officials to examine the scene of his crime. You can see DeChambeau’s visibly irritated expression that lends itself to a treasure chest of memes:

DeChambeau spent a while pleading his case with the rules officials at the fifth hole, and at one point he crossed his arms and appeared to say that he wasn’t going to play on Saturday and instead presumably quit. It would line up with his historically petty tendencies, but it doesn’t mean it’s the best route for him to take amid this unwanted controversy to his otherwise stellar tournament.

Speaking of pettiness, there’s this great screengrab of the moment DeChambeau is speaking to the rules officials: the second round had concluded by then, and an episode of Law & Order: SVU appeared to be on deck on USA Network. The episode was titled, “No Surrender.”

Absolute cinema.

Then there’s this very funny shot of DeChambeau animatedly appealing his innocence to the rules officials, in which he can be seen animatedly gesturing with his hands and waving his club.

That made for a pretty great meme, too:

After being informed of his rules violation and leaving the scoring tent for the second time, DeChambeau started acting a bit... unhinged. He declined to comment to nearby reporters on whether he would play on Saturday and headed out to the range to presumably let out some of his frustrations.

The LIV Golf star was there until past 10 p.m. local time in near darkness, and in between swings he was allegedly humming and also asked the gathered media members, “What do you think of the swing right now? Looking good?”

He additionally offered members of his team almonds and beef sticks, as seen in the photo below:

Just an all-time wild ride for those who tuned into the Bryson DeChambeau spectacle today.

Is Bryson DeChambeau playing at the British Open on Saturday?

DeChambeau notably declined to say anything about his participation in the tournament moving forward, with the third and penultimate round set to take place on Saturday at Royal Birkdale.

Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis reported shortly after the debacle that DeChambeau remains undecided on whether he will continue in this championship. He will make his decision Saturday morning.

If he does decide he can move on from the penalty and keep competing, he would tee off at 10:30 am. ET, paired with Sam Burns.

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Kristen Wong
KRISTEN WONG

Kristen Wong is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. She has been a sports journalist since 2020 and has a bachelor’s in English and linguistics from Columbia University. Before joining SI in November 2023, Wong covered four NFL teams as an associate editor with the FanSided NFL network and worked as a staff writer for the brand’s flagship site. She is a lifelong Liverpool fan who enjoys solving crossword puzzles and hanging out at her neighborhood dive bar in NYC.

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