Bryson DeChambeau's unfortunate two-stroke penalty at The Open Championship left him £200,000 poorer when all was said and done.
The two-time US Open champion was handed a two-stroke penalty during the second round at Royal Birkdale after flattening the grass during his backswing. Officials judged that the action handed the American a better lie and warranted punishment. He maintained he was simply reading his line by positioning himself directly behind the ball, not that it had any effect in easing his penalty.
DeChambeau, 32, even threatened to walk away from the tournament in protest despite moving up to second at one stage. The trip to Merseyside also marked the first time he has managed to make the cut at a final in 2026.
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The American headed straight to the driving range after R&A officials docked his score on the leaderboard. DeChambeau ignored waiting journalists and had a hand in forcing third-round tee times to be pushed back as attention remained fixed on the dispute.
Several fellow players weighed in on the controversy, with Scottie Scheffler among them as he insisted his countryman is "not a cheater." Rory McIlroy had his own take on the matter and described the incident as "performative."
DeChambeau subsequently said the penalty only fired him up further and spurred him on. However, he ultimately fell short of lifting the Claret Jug, finishing in a tie for 14th place and pocketing £175,000. Had the two-stroke penalty not been applied, DeChambeau would have walked away with £384,000 and a share of sixth place alongside Casey Jarvis, Lucas Herbert and Si Woo Kim.
DeChambeau has avoided the media since the incident occurred. Yet numerous current and former Tour professionals, including Scheffler, have argued this represents a more complex issue than a straightforward penalty.
"I think maybe we need to be a little bit more strict in the way that we are policing guys.
"But it's a little bit of a balance because you've got certain guys like a Bryson who, every shot he hits is going to be shown on TV. When you have camera angles that are far away, things can look different than they do when you're right there.
"All I'll say is Bryson, I've known him for a long time, and he's a lot of things, but he's definitely not a cheater. I've never seen him cheat once, whether we were having a putting contest on the putting green or chipping contest, or anytime we played amateur golf, I never saw anything suspicious."
DeChambeau is now set to compete at LIV Golf UK this week. His Crushers GC team is seeking its third win of the year, while DeChambeau himself is chasing a third individual victory of 2026.
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