What it was like as Bryson DeChambeau’s controversial Open decision unfolded

SOUTHPORT, England – Bryson DeChambeau’s final steps Friday night went exactly the way he would have wanted. While in contention at the Open Championship, he signed autographs, posed for pictures with his fans, and yes, even shared a video with British YouTube golfers.

The sun had long gone down at Royal Birkdale and for a moment you might forget that two hours ago he hadn’t completely thrown the competition on his side.

DeChambeau spent the afternoon rocking the crowd, not unlike the scenes two summers ago at the US Open at Pinehurst. He drove it well, went straight to the crowd for advice on choosing clubs from the tee boxes and often went out to anyone with an open hand.

And then, about 10 minutes after getting a 12-foot birdie on the 18th, at about 8:30 pm local time, he read the rules that the officials were considering a two-penalty for improving his lie on the 5th hole. Any player would have hit the pause button and demanded an explanation, but this discussion brought the entire tournament to a standstill for two confusing hours.

Instead of going to the driving range and locker room, DeChambeau and his agent canceled their lessons and went out with the authorities to check and rehearse what happened five hours earlier. In no time, they were 1,000 meters away and on the northern edge of the area. The TV cameras followed it all while the broadcast recording raised the remaining attention on social media. Never mind that local hero Tommy Fleetwood finished 4 under, or that Jon Rahm received a conduct warning. The night had changed.

At 9:36, DeChambeau finally got out of the fray and headed straight for the driving range.

“Hello everyone, how are you?” he asked the reporters. (He repeated himself many times when he didn’t get much of a response.)

Trailing behind but stepping aside to speak to the media was the R&A’s chief administrative officer, Grant Moir, who handed DeChambeau the fine and heard all the arguments. He stepped in front of the cameras with a copy of the two-inch thick Rules of Golf book that governs the game. Rule in question: 8-1, which governs how the course must be played as it is available. It states that the player must not move or break any natural object that is growing or attached. DeChambeau’s various steps through the surrounding fescue, weeds and reeds, officials determined, affected the conditions of the shot he was playing over the hazard and the green.

Moir was brief and to the point in his statement, which included two key words: indirectly again by mistake. It meant that DeChambeau would receive a two-shot penalty, that his perfect 66 would be a 68, but DeChambeau flatly denied knowing that he was changing his lie. But that’s where the hard book comes in. According to Rule 8-1, the player must take a “minimum course of action” to face his ball, and cannot change the conditions affecting the stroke, I mean by mistake.

“I would reiterate that this ordinance applies even if there is no intent to develop the area, as is the case with Bryson,” Moir said. “That’s all I have to say.”

By this time, DeChambeau had gone into a cool distance session, which we learned could go well into the night. A bright moon slowly crept across the sky. Darkness has come. His launch monitor only needed a few inches of light and the nearby leaderboard provided plenty. It also gave a new score: five below the competition, tied for fifth place and one second place.

It might sound like this was one man’s last Friday contact, but it was far from it. Tour players across Southport were waiting for the R&A to post the times for the third round, which was delayed at least an hour longer than necessary. Justin Thomas even wrote to The Open asking for clarification.

In front of one swing coach, his coach, his manager, his agent, another swing coach and maybe 15 reporters, DeChambeau sent ball after ball after ball into the dirt. Irons, woods, driver, back to irons, more woods, driver again. DeChambeau turned cheekily to everyone who had committed to their night of misery and asked, “What do you guys think of the swing? Does it look good?”

Then, “You want a snack? I have almonds. I have beef sticks.”

About an hour later, DeChambeau gave up around 10:30 and turned to a large, marquee house built for the players during the week where, apparently, all kinds of history would be made. On the way, he stopped for a moment to check out those autographs and selfies and shared the contact information of one of his content managers. Engagement, with Big Wedge Golf and its 800,000-plus subscribers, is possible after all.

But those fans were just as curious as the rest of the golf world: What do you think about it all? Did this change his schedule? Will he still appear in the third round?

DeChambeau apologized, called it a “rules debacle,” said he was still going to dinner and thanked him for waiting. Regarding his plans for the third round, or any other thoughts on the matter, he did not give a clue.