The first two rounds of The Open Championship have been something of a good news/bad news situation for Bryson DeChambeau.
Let’s start with the good news.
The good news is he made it through the opening two rounds and successfully made the cut. This is a big development for him after he had missed the cut in each of the three previous Majors that he played in, as well as four of the past five, and five of the past eight.
It has been a struggle for him lately on the biggest stage. He changed that in a big way on Thursday and Friday, with pretty much everything going his way.
Almost everything.
That brings us to the bad news, which may still involve him not actually playing on the weekend.
Bryson DeChambeau gets two-stroke penalty on the fifth hole at the Open Championship
DeChambeau is going into Saturday five-under par and in a tie for fifth place. That was after initially finishing his round seven-under, for what would have been sole possession of second-place, just one stroke off the lead.
The change is due to a two-stroke penalty that was enforced after PGA officials determined he inadvertently improved the area of his intended second shot on the fifth hole.
Basically, they said he wasn’t careful enough in a sensitive area as he moved toward his ball and prepared for his shot.
Here is Grant Moir, the chief rules referee at The Open, explaining the situation.