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Bryson DeChambeau's disputed two-stroke penalty at the Open Championship resulted in a $279,887 financial loss.
The two-time U.S. Open champion received a two-stroke penalty during the second round of the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale after the LIV Golf player controversially flattened the grass during his backswing. He maintained that he was reading his line by positioning himself directly behind the ball.
He also considered withdrawing from the competition following the penalty after he moved into sole second place on the leaderboard at the season's final major championship. This marks his first appearance in weekend play at a major this season.
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He headed directly to the practice range after R&A officials adjusted his position on the leaderboard, avoiding media representatives and causing third round starting times to be pushed back due to attention on the dispute.
Several players weighed in on the situation, including Scottie Scheffler who said 'he's not a cheater,' and Rory McIlroy who said the act was 'performative.'
Following the penalty, DeChambeau stated it fueled his determination and inspired him to pursue victory on the course, but he ultimately fell short of the championship and finished in T-14 position, collecting $234,325.
Had the two-stroke penalty not been applied, DeChambeau would have secured $514,212 and a tie for sixth place alongside Casey Jarvis, Lucas Herbert, and Si Woo Kim.
DeChambeau has kept his distance from the media following the incident, yet numerous former Tour veterans, including Scheffler, maintain that this issue runs deeper than a straightforward penalty, given that virtually every one of DeChambeau's shots is captured on camera during broadcasts.
"I think maybe we need to be a little bit more strict in the way that we are policing guys, but it's a little bit of a balance because you've got certain guys like a Bryson who every shot he hits is going to be shown on TV," Scheffler commented. "When you have camera angles that are far away, things can look different than they do when you're right there.
"All I'll say is Bryson, I've known him for a long time, and he's a lot of things, but he's definitely not a cheater. I've never seen him cheat once, whether we were having a putting contest on the putting green or chipping contest, or anytime we played amateur golf, I never saw anything suspicious."
DeChambeau is set to compete at LIV Golf UK this week.
