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Bryson DeChambeau Threatened To Boycott The Open Championship Over Controversial Two-Stroke Penalty

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Bryson DeChambeau Rules controversy the open championship improve lie two-stroke penalty
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Bryson DeChambeau was on fire during the second round of The Open Championship. However, the 32-year-old was called back onto the course at Royal Birkdale with a rules official to investigate a potential two-stroke penalty.

Did he improve his lie on the 5th hole?

Rules officials ultimately issued a two-shot penalty for a violation of Rule 8.1 because of how he moved around the ball. DeChambeau was NOT happy with the decision and threatened a boycott of the legendary golf tournament.

Bryson DeChambeau finished one shot back of the lead… until he didn’t.

Say what you will about Bryson DeChambeau but the leaderboards are a lot more interesting when he is near the top. A guy who has struggled to get any momentum over the last few weeks and months came roaring out of the gates on Friday.

DeChambeau completely switched out his bag for the The Open Championship. He debuted a full set of custom, 3D-printed irons and swapped his graphite shafts for True Temper Dynamic Gold X7 steel shafts. He also reverted back to his Krank Formula Fire Bro driver. The new clubs were working for him during the second round.

An absolute MOONSHOT on the ninth tee set him up for a birdie.

DeChambeau closed things out with a long putt on 18 to finish the day with a 66.

The final group of the day finished their play around 8:00 p.m. The leaderboard featured 16 players at -4 or under with the leader, Lucas Herbert at -8. DeChambeau was in second place at -7. He was one stroke back of the lead when the day appeared to be over.

But it wasn’t!

A rules official informed DeChambeau of a potential violation. They drove together out to the fifth hole together.

Did he deserve a two-stroke penalty for improving his lie?

Bryson DeChambeau found himself deep in the fescue on his second shot at the fifth hole. He finished out for a bogey.

However, it seemed as though he stomped down on the grass to improve his lie. Nothing happened in real time.

Rules officials eventually brought him back on the course after the second round to discuss Rule 8.1 regarding which actions are and are not allowed around the ball. DeChambeau wanted to plead his case before he signed the scorecard.

They had a long, heated discussion about what happened.

Amid the conversation, DeChambeau appeared to say that he would boycott the rest of the tournament if he is called for a penalty.

Whether intentional or not, his feet clearly stepped on the grass around the ball and put him in a better position for his backswing. Here is a great breakdown of what happened from Jim Furyk and Curt Byrum:

From DeChambeau’s point of view, players frequently walk down the line of sight when the ball is in the rough. And the way that he swung down on the ball was not impacted by the height of the grass in his backswing— regardless of where or how he stomped down on the fescue.

From the rules officials’ point of view, his foot stomping very obviously cleared out the space around and behind the ball. It gave him a lot of additional space to swing away. The additional steps improved his lie. He needs to be more careful around the ball.

They ultimately issued a two-stroke penalty. DeChambeau dropped back from -7 to -5.

Is he going to play tomorrow? Perhaps not, but probably…

He walked over to the range to hit a few more balls after the ruling became official. He has yet to make his decision.

It would be shocking if DeChambeau did not go forth at The Open Championship.