SOUTHPORT, England, July 17 (Reuters) - Bryson DeChambeau was handed a two-stroke penalty for inadvertently improving his lie on the fifth hole during the second round of the British Open on Friday, dropping him from solo second into a tie for fifth and three shots off the lead.
As a result of the ruling, DeChambeau's agent told the Golf Channel that the American may opt not to continue on Saturday.
DeChambeau, who missed the cut at the year's first three majors, capped his second round at Royal Birkdale
with a pair of birdies for a four-under-par 66 that brought him to seven under on the week and one back of halfway leader and fellow LIV golfer Lucas Herbert.
But DeChambeau was confronted by a rules official and informed of the penalty and so they returned to the par-four fifth to analyze the scene where earlier he sent a wayward tee shot into the thick grass and was seen taking practice swings and walking back and forth near his ball before hitting his second shot.
The big-hitting fan favourite became engaged in an animated discussion with the official as he passionately tried to plead his case but ultimately looked visibly frustrated as he returned to the scoring area on a golf cart.
More than an hour after his second round completed, the two-time major champion DeChambeau was penalised under rule 8.1 of the rules of golf and his score on the fifth was changed to a triple-bogey from a bogey.
"Bryson has been penalised two strokes for inadvertently improving the area of intended backswing on fifth hole," said R&A rules official Grant Moir.
DeChambeau was later seen hitting balls on the driving range at Royal Birkdale.
Golf Channel said they spoke to DeChambeau's agent and caddie, who said that while the golfer may have unintentionally stepped on some tall grass around his ball, it was not the line or path that he was swinging to and so, according to them, it did not improve his lie.
DeChambeau's agent also said that while his client was hitting balls on the range, the golfer will make a decision on Saturday about whether he returns to Royal Birkdale for the third round.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Writing by Frank Pingue in Toronto, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
