ESPN: DeChambeau Hit with Two-Stroke Penalty at The Open for Unintentional Swing Area Improvement

Two-Stroke Penalty Derails DeChambeau's Strong Round

Bryson DeChambeau was penalized two strokes by the R&A following his second round at The 154th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale Golf Club. After shooting a 4-under 66 that had propelled him to solo second at 7-under — just one shot off leader Lucas Herbert — the penalty was applied retroactively, revising his card to a 68 and dropping him into a tie for fifth at 5-under.

What Happened on No. 5

DeChambeau's tee shot on the par-4 5th sailed well right, prompting him to hit a provisional. Upon entering the native fescue to locate his first ball, he took several high steps that appeared to flatten the tall grass behind the ball — the area of his intended backswing. The R&A ruled this a violation of Rule 8.1, which upholds the principle of "play the course as you find it" by prohibiting any improvement to conditions affecting the stroke, intentional or not.

R&A Executive Director of Governance Grant Moir stated clearly: "This applies even when the action is accidental, as it was in Bryson's case." DeChambeau ultimately hacked out and carded a bogey; with the penalty, that hole became a triple-bogey 7.

Player Response

DeChambeau declined to discuss the ruling with reporters immediately after signing his scorecard. However, he later posted on X acknowledging he was "obviously disappointed" while stating, "I don't agree with it, but it is what it is. This fires me up. Onto the weekend."

Strokeslab Perspective

From a performance standpoint, a two-stroke swing in a major is enormous. Whether this ruling disrupts DeChambeau's mental momentum — or as he suggests, ignites it — will be a compelling storyline to track through his SG metrics over the weekend rounds.