R&A stands by DeChambeau penalty at Open, Trump did not call

The R&A stood by a two-shot penalty for Bryson DeChambeau after officials ruled he had improved his lie on the 5th hole at Royal Birkdale, and chief executive Mark Darbon called it a “clear-cut decision.” The ruling came during the second round of The Open on Friday, July 17, and it turned a 66 into a 68, dropping DeChambeau from a share of second place to fifth and leaving him seven under par.

The governing body said the penalty applied because DeChambeau had improved the area of his intended swing, even if he did not mean to do so. That point mattered because the case touched the core of golf’s rules culture: intent does not erase the breach when a player’s actions alter the lie. Officials reviewed the incident and kept the two-shot penalty in place, rejecting any suggestion that the decision should be softened because of who DeChambeau is or where he stood on the leaderboard.

DeChambeau said he disagreed with the ruling and that it “fires me up.” His reaction fed a wider swirl around the decision, with attention extending beyond the scorecard to the politics around his profile and his well-known links to Donald Trump. The R&A has said Trump did not call, cutting off speculation that outside pressure might be brought to bear on a rules decision involving one of golf’s most prominent figures.

That scrutiny has grown because DeChambeau is not a routine rules case. He is a major championship contender with a large following and a polarizing public image, which made the penalty easier to turn into a referendum on fairness at elite golf’s highest level. Yet the facts of the ruling were straightforward: a breach on the 5th hole, a two-shot penalty, and a score adjusted from 66 to 68.

The Open first was played in 1860, a reminder that one of sport’s oldest championships still depends on strict rule enforcement when a player crosses the line, regardless of fame, status or political orbit.