Bryson DeChambeau assessed controversial penalty at Open Championship, R&A explains ruling

When Bryson DeChambeau finished his second round at The Open Championship on Friday, he was tied for second place on the leaderboard. But he was assessed a controversial two-stroke penalty afterward, which dropped him down to a tie for fifth place, and the R&A released a statement explaining the ruling. DeChambeau’s drive on the fifth hole wound up in the fescue, just missing the water hazard. As he went to attempt the shot, The Open’s chief rules official Grant Moir said he improved the area around his lie prior to his backswing, therefore violating the local rules. After his round, DeChambeau went back out to the area with rules officials and had a candid conversation with them about the shot. Ultimately, he was given the penalty, which took him from 7-under to 5-under entering Saturday’s third round at Royal Birkdale. Grant Moir, Chief Rules Referee at The Open, explains the incident and decision that resulted in a 2-stroke penalty for Bryson DeChambeau pic.twitter.com/MQdmrFK18T— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) July 17, 2026 “Rule 8.1 restricts what a player may do to improve any of the protected conditions affecting the stroke,” Moir told reporters Friday. “This includes the areas of the player’s intended swing. 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. I’ll stress that this applies even when the action is accidental, as it was in Bryson’s case. The area of the 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. Importantly, what the prohibited action here is that the player mustn’t move, bend or break any growing or attached 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 improve the condition of anything with 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. I would reiterate, this rule applies even when there’s no intention to improve the area, as was the case with Bryson.” Bryson DeChambeau did not speak with reporters before heading to the practice range to take more swings after the round. The USA and NBC broadcast caught his heated exchange with rules officials as he made his case to avoid such a penalty. If he stayed in second, DeChambeau was preparing to be in the final pairing when Saturday’s third round gets underway. Now, after the two-stroke penalty, he will be farther down the leaderboard and tied for fifth with Si Woo Kim and Sam Burns.