Bryson DeChambeau excites the crowd at The Open with a fun comment to the rules official at the end of the third round.
Bryson DeChambeau brought some smiles to fans at The Open with a funny comment he made to a rules official during his third round.
After his second round, Bryson was given a two-shot penalty for accidentally improving the area where he was about to swing. He had shot an impressive 66, putting him in second place, but was called over by officials at the end of the round.
He had a lively chat with the officials near the fifth hole, then spent about 20 minutes discussing the situation with The Open’s organizers in the recorders’ office.
Later, Bryson confirmed he would play in the third round, after first not saying if he would return on Saturday. He shot a solid 69 to stay in the running, with Sam Burns leading at 10-under.
When Bryson reached the 18th hole, he called over a rules official and joked that his ball had moved on its own, clearly referring to Friday’s penalty incident. The official took it in good humor, and the crowd laughed as Bryson smiled back at them.
A commentator said, “Bryson just confirmed his ball moved, but he didn’t cause it to move—he just wanted the official to know.”
While Bryson could joke about the penalty on Saturday, he was pretty serious about it the day before. Fellow player Max Homa said Bryson would “never cheat at golf,” though he didn’t love how the penalty was handled. Russell Henley thought Bryson’s high profile on TV might have made things harder for him since most of his shots were watched closely.
Rory McIlroy, a two-time Masters champ and sometimes rival of Bryson, was more critical. He said he didn’t really like Bryson and thought some of his actions were just for attention. Rory was also unhappy that the whole event was delayed during the penalty discussion, which he felt wasn’t fair to others. He agreed the two-shot penalty was fair, no matter if it was accidental or not.
Bryson’s final round is scheduled for Sunday afternoon, where he’ll tee off with either Ludvig Aberg or Jackson Suber.