The American appeared to have produced an excellent second round of 66. Before signing his card, however, he was brought into discussions with a tournament referee and Grant Moir, an executive director of the R&A. The incident in question was on the 5th, where DeChambeau was alleged to have trampled down grass behind his ball before playing.<\/p>\n
DeChambeau is understood to have insisted upon a return to the scene \u2013 including with club in hand \u2013 to prove his innocence. The two-time major winner cut an increasingly furious figure as it was made plain to him the penalty would stand. DeChambeau then appeared to tell the officials he would not play in the third round, if that was the case.<\/p>\n
Shortly after Friday turned to Saturday, DeChambeau posted on social media: \u201cObviously disappointed with the ruling. I don\u2019t agree with it, but it is what it is. This fires me up. Onto the weekend. Let\u2019s get it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bryson DeChambeau heads back to the 5th with R&A director Grant Moir. Photograph: Richard Heathcote\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
Mark Darbon, the chief executive of the R&A, had joined the talks after DeChambeau returned to the scoring area. The player then emerged, moments before his aggregate score on the Open leaderboard was changed from seven to five under par. DeChambeau\u2019s five at the 5th was modified to a seven.<\/p>\n
After 10pm and in darkness on the Birkdale range, DeChambeau was still pounding drives while asking waiting reporters if they cared for any of his snacks. He had already asked what the media thought of his swing. When asked by the Guardian whether he would tee up on Saturday, DeChambeau said: \u201cI\u2019m going to practise, guys.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moir insisted via a statement that there was no sense of the Californian acting deliberately but that the punishment was appropriate. \u201cBryson has been penalised two strokes for inadvertently improving the area of his intended swing, so intended backswing on the 5th hole when he was playing his second shot,\u201d said Moir.<\/p>\n
\u201cRuling 1 restricts what a player may do to improve any of the protected conditions affecting the stroke and this includes the area of the player\u2019s 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. Now, I\u2019ll stress that this applies even when the action is accidental, as it was in Bryson\u2019s case.<\/p>\n
Bryson DeChambeau walks in the long grass where his ball lies in the rough on the 5th hole. Photograph: Sky Sports<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 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, and importantly, what the prohibited action here is that the player mustn\u2019t move, bend or break any growing or attached natural object.<\/p>\n
\u201cA 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 condition 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.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1008.jpg\")
<\/p>\n