I have to interrupt my writing on Ireland to focus on the latest DeChambeau escapade at the Open Championship in Royal Birkdale.

DeChambeau completed his best round in a 2026 major at Royal Birkdale and into contention at -7.  He was then confronted with a two stroke penalty for improving his lie on the 5th hole.  DeChambeau had whacked his drive into the high fescue off the fairway on the 5th.  There will be lots of opinions of what happened, should have happened or could have happened but Bryson was seen clearly stomping around the fescue trying to figure out how to approach what would be a very difficult shot.  The only opinion that matters is the opinion of the Royal & Ancient rules officials and they determined that Bryson had improved the line of his swing with his meandering, stomping  activity around the ball.  It does not matter if Bryson did this accidently or deliberately–it is clearly a violation of the Rules of Golf and the R&A’s decision was the correct one.  There are some issues that emanate from this experience:

1.  DeChambeau’s violation was the result of his prominence and personality as a player with TV and video cameras focussed on him.  The violation was assessed through video review by the R&A.  There are many players that were in similar cicumstances during the tournament,  but their situations are not on video and not subject to review.  I would suggest that the penalty should have been assessed and reviewed live by the match referee who is on the hole as the referee for the hole.  The entire field has a referee assigned to every hole.  Assessing a penalty after the round is concluded is unfair to the player; however, it does have to be assessed.
2. If I were DeChambeau, I would have had the Rules official accompany me into the fescue so that there was no way that a penalty could be assessed.  DeChambeau’s stomping around the ball made it virtually impossible for him to be innocent.
3. Appealing the penalty after it is assessed is a complete waste of time.  The governing bodies are never going to change their mind after reviewing the evidence.  It’s the same as in every other sport, once the governing body has decided there is no recourse.

DeChambeau’s behavior was juventile and immature.   The two shot penalty is certainly a crusher but you have to understand the big picture and stay in the moment.  For a moment, his agent said something pretty stupid about quitting and not playing any further, which was completely ridiculous.  DeChambeau later stated that the penalty would provide additional motivation for the thrid round challenge and he did play well in the 3rd round posting a one under 69.

The length of time of DeChambeau’s appeal to the R&A was in poor taste and an insult to the field.  The entire field had to wait through this appeal to obtain the final ruling since 3rd round pairings would be impacted by the outcome and players had to know where they stood in the competition.  DeChambeau had no regard for this situation.  I understand his focus on his own situation, but he knew that the R&A was not going to change its decision.  There was enough evidence to support the rules violation and DeChambeau should have accepted the penalty quickly.  He certainly didn’t deliberately violate the rules in my view, but when you hit a terrible tee shot in a major, you’re focussed on how to escape the trouble and stomping around the territory of the ball is a recipe for trouble.

DeChambeau is a great player and very popular.  He does a number of great things for the sport of golf but he his certainly a bit off the beaten path with some of his antics and behavior.  I believe he is an asset for the game and could potentially be even more influential.  At the end of the day, he is a swashbuckling, smasher of the golf ball and a rugged individualist and will continue on his own path to a position in the golf world.  There certainly hasn’t been anyone like him in the professional game of golf, and I just can’t find anyone in the history quite like him.  Perhaps Tin Cup is the best analogy.