DeChambeau’s Open bid hurt by two-shot penalty at Royal Birkdale

R&A officials handed Bryson DeChambeau a two-shot penalty at Royal Birkdale after ruling that he had improved the area of his intended swing on the 5th hole, changing his second-round 66 into a 68. The decision came during the 154th Open Championship in Southport, England, and it immediately altered the shape of his title bid.

The call mattered because it was not a vague pace-of-play or etiquette dispute. Officials determined that DeChambeau had affected the ground in the precise area where he intended to swing, then applied the two-shot penalty to his card. In a major championship, that kind of ruling can erase a position on the leaderboard as quickly as a poor tee shot, and it did so here after DeChambeau had moved into the mix in the second round.

Royal Birkdale has been a strong venue for DeChambeau before. In the 2017 Open Championship at the same course, he shot a 3-under 67, made five birdies and hit 16 of 18 greens in regulation despite finding only four fairways. One account said he was two strokes behind the lead after that round, evidence that the course has long rewarded his ability to score even when his driving was off target.

The setting has only sharpened the scrutiny. Reuters later described Royal Birkdale as offering a different Open test in 2026 because the course was baked and firmer than it had been in 2017. On a links course like Birkdale, where the bounce can change a player’s lie and the firmness can magnify every miss, officials are often forced into judgments that are as consequential as a birdie putt.

Birkdale has also produced rules friction for other contenders. Shane Lowry was later given a two-shot penalty there after his ball moved in the rough, and he was reported to be disappointed with the ruling. For DeChambeau, the latest penalty added another chapter to a venue that keeps putting the rules under the same championship pressure as the players.