Bryson DeChambeau has arrived at Royal Birkdale to compete in the third round of The Open Championship following his furious penalty row.
The LIV Golf star had threatened to not continue competing at the major championship in the wake of being assessed a two-stroke penalty during the second round.
The American’s second-round 66 was downgraded to a 68 on Friday – seeing him drop to three shots back of the overnight leader – over accusations of improving his lie on the fifth hole.
He had floated the possibility of an extraordinary withdrawal during a livid outburst with officials in the immediate aftermath of the ruling.
However, after cooling down, he later confirmed on social media that he would contest the third round.
True to his word, DeChambeau stepped onto the tee box for his 3:30pm (10:30am ET) tee time at Royal Birkdale to chase down leaders Ryan Fox and Lucas Herbert.
Bryson DeChambeau has arrived at Royal Birkdale to compete in the third round of The Open
The LIV Golf stepped onto the first tee box for his tee time – despite threatening to pull out
Despite the animosity of the end to Friday, DeChambeau received a warm welcome as he strolled out onto the tee.
He was loudly cheered and applauded by the British crowd gathered around the first tee box as he was announced ahead of beginning his third round.
Ironically, he first shot suffered a similar fate as Friday’s tee shot at the fifth. While it wasn’t as far off line, it stray left of the fairway, finding the rough.
Thankfully for DeChambeau, he didn’t need to do any trampling this time with the grass not as long or as treacherous, He was left with a manageable lie from which he found the green and walked off with a par.
It marks the first time this year that DeChambeau has made it through to the weekend at a major championship after missing the cut at the Masters, PGA Championship and US Open.
Even with Friday’s two-shot penalty, he finds himself only three shots back of the lead heading into Saturday’s round.
Despite backtracking on his petulant claim that he would not return for the third round, DeChambeau still could not resist taking a dig at the R&A.
In a series of photos shared to Instagram on Friday night, DeChambeau posted two images that had been edited to show him floating above the fescue of the prestigious links course.
The American received a warm welcome from the crowd as he strolled out onto the tee
His first tee shot found the rough on the lefthand side of the fairway
DeChambeau was embroiled in a dramatic argument with rules officials at The Open
He was driven back to the fifth hole to discuss whether he improved his lie
He had been assessed the two-stroke penalty after appearing to inadvertently improve his lie by trampling over the thick rough around his ball at the fifth hole.
The saga will rank among the most dramatic in the 154 editions of the Open, with DeChambeau notified after his round that a breach had been flagged on the television footage. He quickly demanded to be taken by buggy back to the spot of the incident, where he erupted at two rules officials.
DeChambeau was visibly irate as he protested his innocence against what was later clarified by chief referee Grant Moir as an ‘inadvertent improving of the area’ behind his ball.
Footage of the original incident showed DeChambeau wading through the long grass before planting his right foot directly behind his ball – an act that flattened the fescue and would have allowed an easier backswing.
Chief referee Moir said: ‘Bryson has been penalized two strokes for inadvertently improving the area of his intended swing, so intended backswing on the 5th hole when he was playing his second shot.
‘Ruling 1 restricts what a player may do to improve any of the protected conditions affecting the stroke, and this includes the area of the player’s intended swing. So an improvement means to alter one or more of the conditions affecting the stroke so that the player gains a potential advantage for the stroke.
‘Now, I’ll stress that this applies even when the action is accidental, as it was in Bryson’s case.’
