Everything had gone right for Bryson DeChambeau over the first 36 holes of the 2026 Open Championship.
For the first time in what felt like a long time, the focus was squarely on his play. Rounds of 67 and 66 had him one off the lead of Lucas Herbert. He had already stuck it to Faldo, to Brandel. Hell, even the European fans were embracing him.
Then, DeChambeau was informed by R&A officials after the round that he may have committed a two-stroke penalty at the fifth hole. Vibes, dead.
In a wild scene, DeChambeau and multiple rules officials went back to the supposed scene of the crime in carts. NBC analyst Smylie Kaufman captured the footage:
If you thought that was wild, NBC cameras caught to an even more tense scene back at the fifth hole, where DeChambeau fiercely pleaded his case that he did nothing wrong for more than eight minutes The supposed infraction came on DeChambeau’s second shot, when he may have improved his lie, or his swing path.
Clearly, the R&A had reviewed this footage at some point over the next few hours and informed DeChambeau about it afterward. That’s when they went back out to the fifth.
NBC brilliantly put the footage of DeChambeau originally arriving at his ball and the footage of him pleading his case live on the broadcast, juxtaposed against one another:
Based off DeChambeau’s handling of this situation, it’s almost as if he’s already been told he’s receiving a two-stroke penalty. Both he, and the rest of us, continue to wait and see if that will be the case.
As of now, DeChambeau is slated to play in the final twosome on Saturday alongside solo leader Lucas Herbert. Should he be hit with the penalty, he’d fall to five under and into a tie for sixth. We’ll update this story when more information comes.
UPDATE: Bryson DeChambeau was officially hit with a two-stroke penalty for “inadvertently improving the area of his intended backswing,” according to the R&A’s chief referee Grant Moir, who met with the media.
“An improvement needs to alter one or more of the conditions affecting the stroke,” Moir said. “So that the player gains a potential advantage for the stroke. I would stress that this applies even when the action is accidental, as it was 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. Importantly, the prohibitive action here was 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 improves the conditions affecting the stroke, but when doing so, the player must take the least intrusive 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.”
DeChambeau did not speak to the media afterward.
Is it the British Open or the Open Championship? The name of the final men’s major of the golf season is a subject of continued discussion. The event’s official name, as explained in this op-ed by former R&A chairman Ian Pattinson, is the Open Championship. But since many United States golf fans continue to refer to it as the British Open, and search news around the event accordingly, Golf Digest continues to utilize both names in its coverage.