DeChambeau drops to five under after two-stroke Open penalty

What happened: Bryson DeChambeau was given a two-stroke penalty after his second round at The Open Championship for illegally improving his lie on the fifth hole, according to BBC Sport. After a lengthy review with officials at Royal Birkdale, his score was revised to a triple-bogey seven on the hole. The revised round was a 68, leaving him five under par and tied for fifth.

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Scoreboard impact: The confirmed penalty did not remove DeChambeau from contention, but it made his path harder. In a major, the difference between sitting closer to the lead and being pushed back into a tie for fifth can affect both tactics and psychology. At five under, he remained close enough to matter, but the two strokes changed the cost of every missed chance over the weekend.

Why it matters: Rules penalties at majors carry extra force because they create two competitions at once: the actual leaderboard and the narrative around whether a player can absorb the disruption. DeChambeau's case is especially sharp because the BBC report says the review was lengthy and followed his second round. That means the revision came after the round's playing story had already been formed, turning a completed score into something less favorable.

Tournament implications: A triple-bogey seven on a single hole is damaging in any championship round. Here, the important detail is that it was not only the product of strokes played on the hole; it was the official scoring consequence of the lie ruling. That distinction matters for how the weekend is read. DeChambeau's ball-striking and scoring may still keep him in the chase, but his margin has been reduced by a rules decision rather than by a simple late-round collapse.

What changed: Before the review, DeChambeau's second-round 68 would have been assessed differently in relation to the field. After the review, the same round carried a penalty-adjusted hole score and a new tournament position: five under, tied for fifth. That is still a competitive platform, but not the same one. The revised card creates pressure to recover ground without compounding the damage by forcing low-percentage shots.

What to watch: The next useful information is not whether the penalty happened; that is confirmed by the source. It is how DeChambeau responds in the final two rounds and whether the leaders leave enough room for a player at five under to re-enter the strongest part of the championship fight.

Confidence: Confirmed by BBC Sport: DeChambeau received a two-stroke penalty for illegally improving his lie on the fifth hole, officials reviewed it at Royal Birkdale, his score was changed to a triple-bogey seven, and he moved to five under par in a tie for fifth after a 68. Still needing follow-up: the full official rules explanation, leaderboard gaps, and later-round consequences.