DeChambeau to play with 'chip on his shoulder'
Mike Tirico and Curt Byrum explore the fallout from Bryson DeChambeau's two-stroke penalty in Round 2 of The Open, including how the R&A came to the decision and why DeChameau can use it as fuel for the weekend.
Video Transcript
Yesterday, if you weren't with us, let's take you through what happened.
DeChambeau, this at 18, at 8:22 in the evening local time.
A birdie which looked to be concluding a terrific round of four under par, 66, putting him within one of the lead.
However, before he signed his scorecard, he was stopped by R&A officials, a conversation about what happened earlier on the drivable par-four fifth.
Let's take you back four hours earlier in the afternoon.
He stomps in there to look at where his tee shot landed, 16 yards right of the hazard that goes down the right side of the fifth.
DeChambeau took his stance, played his second to the green at the par four.
And the backswing, and the area where that backswing took place, was the area in question.
Goes past the green.
He ends up not being able to get up and down, and makes five.
But they go back out with the officials at 8:44 local time to look at the place where it occurred, and DeChambeau, in a frustrated, animated state in the conversation with the R&A officials, who were getting ready to assess him a two-stroke penalty, tried to plead his case.
You see his disbelief, and then his anger, his frustration.
Lip readers will tell you, say, "I may not play tomorrow if you're gonna give me that penalty."
Here is the rule in question, Rule 8.1, penalizing two strokes, inadvertently improving the area of his intended swing.
The rule restricts what a player can do to improve any of those protected conditions, including the area of the player's intended swing.
So instead of being seven under and in second, DeChambeau's name comes down a few slots.
He ends up at five under with that two-shot penalty.
It was a triple bogey for him on that fifth hole.
And to burn off some energy and anger, Bryson, shades of Wingfoot when he won the US Open Championship, in the darkness hitting golf balls at the practice range.
There was a question if he was gonna come back and play today, but after midnight local time, he posted this on social media, "Disappointed, but I agree with the ruling.
It is what it is.
It fires me up.
On to the weekend.
Let's get it."
And we're fired up, and onto the weekend we are.
Mike Tirico, Kurt Byron, rest of our NBC Sports team, as always, thrilled to be here to bring you this summertime tradition of the Open in the morning back in the States.
And Kurt, you were on the air as that happened and unfolded last night.
Got to sleep on it.
A lot of text messages with a lot of golf pros back and forth.
Yeah.
Give me your read on that situation.
Well, I think it, it's when he first walked into the fescue that was the biggest problem.
He walked in pretty aggressively here.
When he finally gets near the ball, and when he walks in, he starts pushing down some of that fescue around the side and behind the ball, and that was the For me, that was the real problem.
And even though he tried to argue that So watch right here.
He finally get in there.
See how he starts, he kinda starts stomping it in, in, on that tall fescue.
Now he's right behind the ball there.
So that's the problem right there.
When you get in that tall stuff, as a player, you have to be really careful because if he affects the intended backswing there- Mm-hmm then he's improved his lie.
And so in the end, the R&A decided that that no matter what the intent was, that was gonna be a two-shot penalty, and it was a tough pill for him to swallow.
He didn't like it, but I'm glad he's back playing.
The USGA sets the rules for golf in US and Mexico, the R&A for the rest of the world.
The two bodies work in conjunction, hand-in-hand, on the rules of the game.
So always a very important moment when there's a big-picture situation like this, and the R&A coming out with the statement, and discussing it with DeChambeau before he signed an incorrect scorecard.
That's all behind us now, all the histrionics, all the emotion, all the moment.
What do you think it'll do to Bryson on the golf course today now that he's three back instead of one back?
I think he goes out with a chip on his shoulder, which isn't a problem for him.
Right.
He plays like that a lot anyway.
But use it as a motivator to go out and show the world how good he is.
Don't worry about that.
Put it behind him.
And I know that's tough for him to do right now, but you just use that as motivation.
You go out there.
He is playing some great golf.
Yes.
He's striking it great.
He's putting solid.
Concentrate on that.
Put yourself in a position to win this championship on Sunday.
And in those last four groups, he's the only one who's won a major championship, but Scottie Scheffler and Jon Rahm are lurking.
There are big names who, with a good day today, can get themselves right in the mix for championship Sunday.
Scheffler's ball-striking is so good right now.
If he finds it with the putter over the weekend, he is gonna definitely be a factor.
He is so good tee to green right now.
And by the way, so is DeChambeau.
Yes.
The two of them are probably the best two in the field right now tee to green.
But if Scheffler gets it going with the putter, look out, he's gonna shoot a couple of good rounds.
I was inside the ropes with that group all day.
Scottie didn't miss a shot yesterday.
He missed a bunch of putts like this.
If they get going with the putter- Yeah look out.
Could be a special day.
