Bryson DeChambeau was assessed a two-stroke penalty for inadvertently improving his lie during the second round of The 154th Open.
The American originally made a bogey at the par four fifth. He drove his ball right off the tee into the penalty area but deemed it to be playable and was seen taking practice swings and walking back and forth near his ball before hitting it out long of the green. He failed to get up and down and believed he had made a five. He subsequently made birdies at the ninth, 11, 17th and 18th, before being informed of the penalty after the round.
As a result of the penalty, DeChambeau will begin the third round at Royal Birkdale at five under, three shots adrift of 36-hole leader Lucas Herbert.
In a statement, Grant Moir, R&A Executive Director, Governance, said: "Bryson has been penalised 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.
"Ruling 8.1 restricts what a player may do to improve any of the protected conditions affecting the stroke, and this includes the area of the player'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. Now, I'll stress that this applies even when the action is accidental, as it was in Bryson's case."
DeChambeau later wrote on X: "Obviously disappointed with the ruling. I don’t agree with it, but it is what it is. This fires me up. Onto the weekend. Let’s get it."
