Bryson DeChambeau finished six shots behind the winner at Royal Birkdale but is convinced a controversial two-shot penalty derailed what could have been his first major championship victory.
The American opened the Open Championship strongly with rounds of 67 and 66, moving into contention near the top of the leaderboard. But officials imposed a retrospective penalty after reviewing video from the fifth hole, ruling that DeChambeau had improved his lie by standing on and flattening grass in his backswing area.
The infraction transformed his second-round score from 66 to 68, dropping him from second place to fifth and converting what would have been a birdie into a triple bogey. DeChambeau protested the decision vehemently and even considered withdrawing from the tournament entirely before continuing through the final two rounds, posting scores of 69 and 72.
Speaking after the event at a LIV Golf tournament near Uttoxeter, DeChambeau broke down the math on his missed opportunity.
"Two holes and I'm right there for the Claret Jug," he said. "Besides the 5th being three over and the 11th, that's six shots. That's tied for the lead right there."
Ryan Fox won the championship at 10-under par while DeChambeau finished at four-under, six shots back. For context, the American's tied 14th finish marked his best major championship result since he finished runner-up to Scottie Scheffler at the 2025 US PGA Championship, and came after missing the cut in his previous three major starts.
The penalty has become the focal point of DeChambeau's analysis. He suggested that without the two strokes lost at the fifth hole, combined with struggles at the 11th, he would have finished in a position to contest the title down the stretch. The final rounds suggest he had the game to make a run, but the early damage proved insurmountable.
Author James Rodriguez: "The penalty may have been technically correct, but it looms large in what might have been a different story at Royal Birkdale."
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