Bryson DeChambeau’s rules controversy at The Open: What happened, why was he penalised and how did he react to decision? | Golf News

Bryson DeChambeau has been criticised for ‘making himself the story’ by the way he handled a two-shot penalty during his second round at The Open.

The two-time US Open champion appeared to be a shot off the halfway leader Lucas Herbert after rounds of 67 and 66 at Royal Birkdale, only to be embroiled in a lengthy rules discussion after his second round.

DeChambeau was seen in a heated conversation with R&A officials at the par-four fifth, where he had been adjudged to have improved the area for his backswing, and eventually was handed a two-shot penalty for the incident after further talks in the recorders area.

The penalty turned his bogey into a triple-bogey seven and dropped him three off the lead, with DeChambeau then going to hit balls on the practice range – in near darkness – before leaving the course around 10.30pm without speaking to the media.

“He [DeChambeau] wants to be the centre of attention,” Sir Nick Faldo told Sky Sports. “I always thought you wanted to come into a major and keep your mind and body on a lovely even kind of zen keel.

“For him to be having to deal with all this emotion, whether it fires him up or not, we will see. I’ve got to believe it’s another hurdle to climb.”

Sky Sports’ Paul McGinley added: “He’s made himself the story now. If he plays poorly, it will be ‘because of what the horrible R&A did to me at the ruling’ and, if he plays well, it’s because he’s fired up off what they did.

“We’ve seen a lot of these incidents over the years, but there was acceptance of it. A lot of the time, nobody makes a big fuss and drama the way that went on. That’s where Bryson got it wrong – he didn’t respect the referees in the game.”

Why was DeChambeau punished and was it fair?

Grant Moir, the executive director of governance for The R&A, explained that the penalty under Rule 8.1 of the rules of golf applied “even when the action was accidental, as it was in Bryson’s case.”

“Bryson has been penalized two strokes for inadvertently improving the area of his intended swing, so intended backswing on the fifth hole when he was playing his second shot,” Moir told reporters late on Friday evening.”

Sky Sports’ Rich Beem said: “It’s unfortunate the way it all happened. Do I think there was any intent? No, not at all. I think that he went in there and wasn’t too sure exactly where his golf ball was at.

“He barrelled into behind the ball and there was a couple of big steps that he took. I know that he’s still not happy about it, but I think that the rules officials had the right rule and he’s just got to take it and move on – hopefully he will.”

Faldo added: “You watch his left foot when he steps back in to address the ball and ‘wallop’, that grass has been crushed considerably. I think the R&A did a great job because you cannot bend or move anything in your intended swing path – whether it’s inadvertent or not.

“It’s got nothing to do with that, nothing to do with Bryson. This is just a golfer who has put his foot down and moved the grass. That is simply our rule book. The R&A handled it beautifully, handled it factually and, bottom line, it’s job done.”

Should the incident have been handled differently?

It took nearly 75 minutes from DeChambeau walking off the 18th to the two-shot penalty being confirmed, leaving the world’s media waiting for an outcome and those who made the cut not knowing their third-round tee times until around 11pm.

“I don’t know if it’s common practice [to return to the course], but I’ve seen it in more than one instance,” Beem added. “I think that he wanted to go out there and state his case, but I don’t think it did him any favours with it!

“As my colleague Richard Boxall said, the rules officials aren’t going to take you out there for a picnic! I think he had that right to state his case and he stated it, but to no avail.”

McGinley explained: “That was more disappointing than anything else, that it was played out in such a public forum. If this had been in most places, it would have been done behind closed doors with a video camera.

“I think in a case of being as fair as they could, the referees decided to go back out to the fifth and show what happened. You’re talking with two referees of the highest integrity and guys who’ve got no agenda here except to protect the field.

“When they get evidence like this, they have to act. They were as fair as they could to be and they tried to explain to Bryson. His belligerence was another issue. Imagine how you would feel waiting at 11pm last night before the draw came out, not knowing hat time you’re playing? That was all so unfair and unseemly.”

Did DeChambeau’s status left him disadvantaged?

DeChambeau’s decision was heavily scrutinised by multiple cameras following his marquee group, meaning there were more angles to analyse the incident than most players around the course would have potentially faced.

“I think that’s something that we in TV have been talking about for years,” Beem explained. “Right now, the guys are going out there and there’s no wind. What happens later in the day if it’s blowing? It’s just the nature of the beast!

“We can’t blame the cameras. This week you have walking rules officials with every group. Will it be the same for guys at the 3M Open next week on a Saturday morning? No, but golf is never the same.

“We have plenty of rules out there that differentiate between somebody who goes out early and somebody goes out late, whether that be weather or with the cameras. There’s no perfect science to it and there never will be.”

Would DeChambeau have really withdrawn?

TV coverage appeared to show DeChambeau insinuating that we would not continue in the tournament, with his agent telling Golf Channel on Friday evening that – at that stage – he was undecided whether he would play.

“If he didn’t bowl up on Saturday morning, it would be tough you know what,” Faldo said. “No player is bigger than the game. Jack [Nicklaus] and Arnold [Palmer] and everybody have all left the arena of being competitive and golf has gone on.

“Golf will always go on. Tiger [Woods] has gone very quiet and golf has gone on. You’ve got to be grateful that you were able to enjoy being out there and being a competitor in our great game. Once you’re done, golf is just going on.

“If he disappeared tomorrow, we’d always say ‘well, that was tough’. We would all carry on.”

How will the incident impact DeChambeau?

DeChambeau ended a run of three consecutive major missed cuts and the possibility of a ‘Bryson Slam’ of early exits by progressing through to the weekend, with the American now looking to bounce back from the incident and challenge for the Claret Jug.

“A chip on his shoulder is a good thing in sports – you take the criticism coming your way and you channel it into a positivity,” McGinley insisted. “A lot of people are going to be on his side and he’s not going to get the abuse that some people think he will.

“He loves being a man of the people. He will love that and revel in it, but you’ve got to harness it in the correct way.”

Beem added: “I saw a few things on social media that he posted and made fun of the situation a little bit. He’s got two strokes more to gain but if you look at it another way, instead of finishing birdie-birdie last night, he finished par-par.”

“I sure hope that he gets past it because the golf that we did see over the first two days was absolute of the highest quality. I hope that none of what happened mars his play going forward.”

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