Bryson DeChambeau’s day at The Open on Friday ended terribly after he received a two-stroke penalty for inadvertently improving his lie on the fifth hole.
DeChambeau actually played some magnificent golf throughout his second round at The Open, but he will leave Royal Birkdale on Friday night with a sour taste in his mouth.
The 32-year-old LIV Golf star ended his round one shot adrift of the leader, but just minutes later he was three back.
Was Bryson DeChambeau's penalty unfair?
He was penalised two shots following an incident on the fifth hole…
DeChambeau received a two-stroke penalty from the R&A after he was deemed to have improved his lie early on in his second round.
The 32-year-old’s drive found the deep rough and he appeared to trample down some of the long grass directly behind his ball.
Now Brandel Chamblee and Paul McGinley have reacted to the incident.
Brandel Chamblee insists Bryson DeChambeau deserved his penalty
DeChambeau had plenty of players and fans standing up for him after he received a two-stroke penalty.
However, there are some who believe the penalty was more than deserved.
When speaking on The Golf Channel, Chamblee shared his opinion on DeChambeau being penalized and responded when asked if it was fair.
“I do. Incontrovertibly,“ he said.
“He was in breach of 8.1, which says your actions in any way cannot move, bend or break the area around your golf ball.
“You cannot improve the conditions affecting the stroke and it was clear that his actions were improving the conditions of his stroke.“
Paul McGinley criticises DeChambeau’s behavior at The Open
McGinley then chimed in with his opinion on the matter.
“I don’t think Bryson is helping himself,“ he said.
“He took umbrage against the comments that were made about him having no strategy and rather than taking the moral high ground on that and thinking I shot 78 on the first round of the Open Championship last year and then came back and shot 65, 68, 64 to finish in the top 10. I think I know what I am doing on links golf courses.
“As great as Nick Faldo is they are my views. I think I know what I’m doing. I have a different strategy and approach to Open Championships than Nick Faldo.
“Doing that and going to the media with a smile on his face, he would have won the situation, but he did not take that.
“And he has made a bad situation worse here by not accepting the penalty with a bit of grace.“
McGinley also added: “The problem Bryson’s got, and this is for any player not just Bryson, whether he likes it or not is when you invite conjecture around the rules you know sometimes you’re going to get burnt and he invited conjecture with the haphazard way in which he treated the grass around the ball.“
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
