Bryson DeChambeau threatens to no-show Open after being handed brutal two-shot penalty

Bryson DeChambeau has been slapped with a two-shot penalty following a rules committee investigation at The Open.

The two-time US Open champion was penalised for improving his lie on the fifth hole at Royal Birkdale.

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DeChambeau sliced a wayward tee shot into the rough to the right of the fairway earlier in his round.

Having located his ball, he was deemed to have improved the lie of his backswing prior to playing his second shot.

He went on to card a bogey on the par-four fifth, which has since been amended to a triple-bogey seven.

The infringement did not come to light until he had finished for the day, however.

After a four-under par 66 on Friday, DeChambeau headed back to the fifth hole along with R&A officials to discuss the incident.

He could be seen becoming embroiled in a heated exchange as the threat of the penalty loomed.

DeChambeau ended his second round one-shot behind leader Lucas Herbert, who produced a record-equalling eight-under 62 to rise up the leaderboard.

The two-shot penalty has now dropped DeChambeau back to tied-fifth on five-under for the week.

R&A statement

In a statement, R&A referee Grant Moir explained the decision to hand out the penalty.

He said: “Bryson has been penalised two strokes for inadvertently improving the area of his intended backswing on the fifth hole when he was playing his second shot.

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“I will explain the technicalities of the rule here for you. Ruling one restricts what a player may do to improve any of the protected conditions affecting the stroke, and this includes the area of the player’s intended swing.

“So, 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. With stress, this applies even when the action was accidental in Bryson’s case.

“The area of intended swing includes the entire area that might reasonably affect any part of the backswing, the downswing or the completion of the swing for the intended stroke.

“What the prohibited action here is that any player must not move bend or break any growing or attached or natural object.

“A player is allowed to fairly take their stance by taking reasonable actions to get to the ball and take a stance if, in some situations, that improves the conditions affecting the stroke.

“But when doing so the player must take the least intrusive course of action to deal with the particular situation, and is not entitled to a normal stance or swing.

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“I would reiterate, this rule applies even when there is no intention, as was the case with Bryson.”

It came after he had reportedly threatened not to play the rest of the tournament if hit with the punishment.

Speaking on Sky Sports’ coverage, Nick Dougherty explained: “We’re hearing there’s a fairly distraught Bryson DeChambeau down there.

“We have also heard some have been lip-reading and that Bryson DeChambeau mouthed that he might not even play tomorrow.”

DeChambeau reaction

However, DeChambeau remained coy as he addressed the assembled media having emerged from the recorders cabin.

He asked: “Are you guys having a great night? I’m having a great night.”

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The world No.37 refused to answer when asked if he is playing on Saturday, though.

Instead, he replied: “I’m off to hit some balls,” before heading to the range, where he remained beyond 10pm local time.

His agent later added that DeChambeau was serious about potentially not playing the third round, with a decision expected on Saturday morning.

Speaking via Kevin Van Valkenburg, they explained: “He’s a lot of things. He’s not a cheater.”

They added: “He’s a big boy. He’ll see how he feels, but he certainly feels he was unfairly penalised.”

He has until his tee time on Saturday to make a decision on whether or not to play.

DeChambeau has now seen his hopes of winning a third major affected as he is left three shots off the lead heading into the weekend.

His previous best performance at The Open came in 2022 at St. Andrews.

On that occasion, he finished tied-eighth, eight shots adrift of champion Cameron Smith.

Live coverage from Royal Birkdale on talkSPORT 2 continues from 9am on Saturday.