Bryson DeChambeau, one of the star golfers from Team USA competing in The Open Championship in Southport, England, was dealt a blow after he was awarded a two-stroke penalty at the end of the second round of Friday’s PGA Tour event.
DeChambeau’s penalty, which pushed him from solo second to joint fifth in one go, sparked a lot of controversy. The row came as Bryson DeChambeau was seen in a deep argument with the officials over the violation.
The incident also sparked speculation that DeChambeau might even withdraw from The Open altogether. It stemmed from a clip of the golfer purportedly saying, “I’m not gonna be playing tomorrow.”
Needless to say, it sharply divided opinion among viewers of The Open. Many stood with the 32-year-old golfer as he pleaded his case around the two-stroke penalty – alleging that he did not interfere with the grass around his ball at the 5th hole to make his lie better.
But what was the rationale behind the two-stroke penalty for Bryson DeChambeau? The Chief Referee of The Open explained after the game.
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Why Was Bryson DeChambeau Given A Two-Stroke Penalty?
Grant Moir, the Chief Referee for The Open, explained the decision to give the American golfer a two-stroke penalty. Though the explanation clarified the stance of the officials, the controversy around it far from abated.
Bryson DeChambeau was penalized two-strokes for “inadvertently improving” his lie at the 5th hole, Grant Moir told Sky Sports after Round 2 ended on Friday.
“Bryson has been penalized two strokes for inadvertently improving the area of his intended swing, so the intended backswing on the fifth hole when he was playing his second shot,” Moir said.
“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,” he explained. “Now, 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.”
Bryson DeChambeau now sits five under par, finishing -8 at the end of Round 2. He is still just three shots off the lead.
