There shouldn’t be much else to say about Bryson DeChambeau’s two-shot penalty.
It was administered, his score was reduced, and given that it was last week, it has been put to bed. The LIV star came tied for 14th at The Open in the end, and left having spoken to no written media all week.
But there is an intriguing and wider consideration about the nature of what occurred, with Bryson being who he is: a two-time major champion, a huge personality who joined a controversial, Saudi-funded golf league in 2022 and arguably the game’s most divisive figure.
When he is judged to have inadvertently improved the conditions around his ball in long grass at Royal Birkdale, everyone is interested. But are there other potential occurrences that do not get picked up, because other occurrences don’t include box office stars?
The discourse online, on the NCG Golf Podcast and on other forms of media was mostly dominated by opinions of whether the rule was fair on DeChambeau. But also, some corners of the debate have considered the above, and whether DeChambeau was somewhat a victim of the microscope placed on him each time he plays.
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“No one is suggesting that Bryson did it on purpose. But what is undeniable is that his actions caused his lie to improve, and that is that,” Tom Irwin said on the NCG Golf Podcast.
“He is bang to rights. It’s a two-shot penalty, and we should all move on.
“But I think there is lots more to it. If we started in the case for the defence of Bryson – I have a big problem with trial by TV in events like this. I’ve always said this. I don’t like VAR either, for that matter.
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“I don’t like technology in sport affecting outcomes or adjudications. I think that in football, it undermines the referee. It’s the same in rugby and the same in cricket. If it doesn’t pass the eye test, if someone’s missed it, it’s a mistake. Just move on. It’s sport. It doesn’t matter that much.”
It’s understood that the R&A’s extensive use of officials who monitor broadcast feeds captured what they saw DeChambeau doing around his ball on the 5th hole in Southport.
However, with the extensive scrutiny on social media and the viral nature of each angle and each clip of DeChambeau’s actions, you might forgive some fans for interpreting that to be influential in the process of the ruling.
In April 2017, the USGA and the R&A established new boundaries when it came to the study of video evidence when applying the rules of golf. An outcome of the study was an agreement on a new set of video protocols when enforcing the rules of golf.
The committee no longer needs or wants outside intervention from viewers who believe they’ve seen a violation, in the form of phone calls, emails or texts, which has previously been the case.
Arguably the most memorable occurrence was at the 2013 Masters, when Tiger Woods was given a two-shot penalty on the 15th hole for taking a wrong drop. He signed for an incorrect scorecard, but he was spared disqualification. All of this happened because a television viewer raised the alarm.
This concept is also linked to the use of video analysis at golf tournaments, and how video can pick up on potential rules infringements that aren’t dealt with immediately on the ground and in the moment.
In general, should golf make use of technology in the same way as other sports? Should the integrity and the unique concept of self-policing in the game be trusted in the moment until interpreted otherwise by the players and officials on the ground?
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“Golf is a game of integrity, and one must work on the assumption that all players are playing with integrity until proven otherwise. The inconsistency for me is that the field here started with roughly 140 players,” Irwin said.
“There are not social media eyes on all the players in the field on every shot in the same way that there are people like Bryson. There are not people pouring over every shot on The Open website as there are for people like Bryson.
“So for him to be penalised after the fact, it wasn’t reported by a marshal; it wasn’t reported by a walking rules official.
“It wasn’t reported by a fellow player. He didn’t report himself… If that is the only instance of someone inadvertently improving their lie this week… other people definitely have done it.”
“For example, if Michael Thorbjornsen had done that this week, that’s not under the microscope,” Matt Chivers added.
“Trial by television is exactly what a fan used as a phrase when I spoke to some fans about it on the ground at Birkdale. If we’re dealing with his potential defence, you could say he’s allowed to walk behind his ball.
“He’s allowed to look at the flag from behind his ball, and that obviously includes stepping on the long grass behind his ball.
“But – the intent isn’t relevant. It’s what’s happened to the grass around the ball.”
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“The reason I say he is bang to rights is that it clearly has improved his lie, and I think it’s really important that the R&A has taken a stance on it, because this is sort of the direction of travel in the game,” Irwin added.
“Golf is a game that relies on integrity, and it relies on people being very careful about things exactly like that and etiquette, and there’s a lot of, ‘Oh, it doesn’t matter, it’s only this once’, but that kind of thing does matter because that is changing a potential double-bogey into a potential birdie basically, and that is a huge swing.
“The essence of the game is the thing that needs protecting first and foremost, over and above Bryson’s chances, over and above Bryson’s place in the field, over and above Bryson’s ego, and that’s why the R&A have had to step in.”
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