Will golf ever be the same again after Bryson DeChambeau’s penalty at The Open Championship?
DeChambeau was flying high at the final major championship of the season at Royal Birkdale, only for disaster to strike after his second round.
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The American, currently playing on LIV Golf, received a two-stroke penalty for inadvertently improving the area of his backswing on the fifth hole on Friday.
DeChambeau has understandably been left very disappointed by the decision, but he plans to use it as motivation to climb back up the leaderboard.
But the controversial decision may not be limited to short-term implications at The Open Championship, instead changing the sport of golf forever.
Bryson DeChambeau’s penalty at The Open could change golf
First and foremost, more and more penalties being handed out is certain to be a major consequence of the DeChambeau debacle.
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That is the last thing players want, although it is perhaps on a par with having to call rules officials over every single time they find their ball in the long rough.
No player will want to risk going through what DeChambeau has just gone through, meaning it could be a real struggle to police this new world of rules controversy.
Of course, such a situation would undoubtedly lead to much longer rounds, with golf fans already annoyed by the slow pace of play that often emerges at tournaments.
There is also the very worrying prospect of much less trust in the players, which goes without saying just how much the sport’s renowned integrity would be hit.
Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images
A new ruling may just need to come into play to counteract these problems, with the R&A having perhaps been better off just leaving DeChambeau as he was.
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That was, of course, the case for Wyndham Clark en route to his US Open success at Shinnecock Hills, where many felt he improved his lie when stepping in for a practice swing.
Camera angles and mere camera availability, along with player honesty, are also key parts of the discussion and simply serve to create further confusion about what could happen the next time such an incident arises.
Controversially, the USGA did not penalize the Clark incident, but DeChambeau has not been as lucky with the R&A at Royal Birkdale.
Michael Kim confident Bryson DeChambeau didn’t break rules on purpose
Despite the penalty, DeChambeau remains in contention to win The Open, sitting in a tie for fifth at the time of his punishment.
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But DeChambeau really wasn’t happy with his penalty, which his fellow professional golfer Michael Kim has since reacted to.
Kim, who missed the cut at Royal Birkdale, posted on X: “Don’t know if this was what we had in mind when talking about strategy…
“I’m sure Bryson didn’t do it on purpose and it could be the angle but it did look like his swing was less impeded. Camera angle could have screwed him here.”
An X user then responded: “I think he’s been harshly treated here. He’s having to move around on extremely uneven ground in long grass.
“Is he supposed to not touch the grass at all with his feet while he tries to work out how to play his shot? Somewhat ruined the spectacle of the action today now.”
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And Kim replied: “Yes, he’s not supposed to touch the long stuff behind where his swing could be affected. If that was a tree, you can’t move the branches so that your swing is less impeded.”
Wanting to avoid the same fate, every single player remaining in Southport will now be extremely cautious about their footing in the rough.
But that caution likely won’t end at this tournament, with the future of the sport possibly changed forever because of this sole incident, which is a truly remarkable thought.
Read more: R&A release official statement as Bryson DeChambeau is handed a two-stroke penalty at The Open
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