DeChambeau takes 2-stroke penalty for improving lie, threatens to withdraw before reversing course

Bryson DeChambeau remains in contention at the 154th The Open Championship — the final men's major of the season — despite receiving a two-stroke penalty for improving his lie.

DeChambeau was penalized on the fifth hole (par 4) during the second round Friday (local time) at Royal Birkdale Golf Club (par 70) in Southport, England. The penalty turned what would have been a bogey into a triple bogey, dropping him to a tie for fifth at the end of the round.

DeChambeau carded five birdies on the day, but the triple bogey limited him to a two-under round. Without the penalty, he would have been just one stroke behind leader Lucas Herbert of Australia, making the ruling all the more costly.

DeChambeau reacted furiously on the course immediately after the ruling, declaring he would not play Sunday's round. Hours later, he posted a statement on social media in the early hours of the morning saying he had composed himself and would compete through the weekend.

"I'm clearly disappointed in this ruling. I don't agree with it, but it is what it is," he wrote. "But this only fuels and fires me up even more. Moving on to the weekend rounds. Let's go."

The incident occurred after DeChambeau's tee shot on the fifth hole sailed well wide of the fairway and came to rest in deep rough near a tree. As he moved around his ball to prepare for his second shot, he appeared to press down long grass with his foot in the area of his intended backswing.

The rules committee determined that DeChambeau had "inadvertently improved the area of his intended swing," constituting a violation of the prohibition on improving a lie under the rules of golf.

The committee acknowledged that DeChambeau had no deliberate intent to improve his lie. Under the rules of golf, however, a player who moves or bends natural objects — such as grass — in an area where a potential advantage could be gained is subject to a penalty regardless of intent. The two-stroke penalty was applied accordingly.

Grant Moir, director of rules at the R&A, said DeChambeau received the two-stroke penalty because he inadvertently improved the conditions of his backswing area ahead of his second shot on the fifth hole. "Even if the player had no intention of doing so, the rules apply without exception when natural objects in an area of potential advantage have been altered," Moir said.