R&A CEO says Bryson penalty was ‘clear cut’ rules decision, no call from Trump

A day after the R&A issued a two-stroke penalty to Bryson DeChambeau at the Open Championship for inadvertently improving the area of his swing path for his second shot on the fifth hole during the second round, R&A CEO Mark Darbon shed a little more light on how the penalty came to be in an interview with BBC Radio.

For starters, the R&A did not become aware of the issue through social media chatter, according to Darbon. Rather, he said that rules officials in the TV review trailer who were monitoring the coverage of the championship and spotted the incident shortly after DeChambeau played the fifth hole. Darbon said they then followed the process the rules team has established.

After DeChambeau finished his round, Moir and Darbon, among others from the R&A, sat with DeChambeau in the scoring trailer to tell him of the issue.

DeChambeau then asked if he could go with rules officials out to the hole to plead his case for why he did not improve the swing path, spending 20 minutes out on the course. They then returned to the scoring area for another 20-25 minutes before DeChambeau emerged and the R&A confirmed the penalty was assessed. Instead of the bogey 5 DeChambeau originally made on the hole, he was marked for a triple-bogey 7, dropping from seven under par and one off the lead to five under and three back.

"I have not received a call from President Trump." 📞❌

R&A chief executive Mark Darbon says the two-shot penalty given to Bryson DeChambeau at the #TheOpen was a "clear-cut decision".#BBCGolf pic.twitter.com/mYcCO3DHVd

— BBC 5 Live Sport (@5liveSport) July 18, 2026

“It was an unfortunate decision but really clear-cut from a rules perspective,” Darbon said. “So, obviously, our team discuss it. The final decision sits with our chief referee and we have a responsibility to our championship and to the rest of the field.

“And so, irrespective of which player this affected, it’s the same decision. From a rules perspective, it was clear-cut.”

DeChambeau played it coy with media members after the penalty was assessed as speculation arose that he might not play the third round Saturday, his agent saying it was up to Bryson. Later in the evening, he took to social media to say that indeed he would be back at Birkdale to try to claim the Claret Jug.

“It’s fair to say there was some emotion around that, and we will keep some of the aspects of that discussion private,” Darbon said. “There was some emotion, but I empathise with that.

“Bryson has played a great round of golf, is in contention at a major championship, he wants to win the golf’s original major. We were focused on the ruling and making a fair assessment.”

Light-heartedly, Darbon was asked whether President Donald Trump had reached out at all about the penalty. The president is close friends with DeChambeau, and he notably called FIFA chief Gianni Infantino asking if he would review the red card and one-game suspension U.S. soccer player striker Folarin Balogun received (and had rescinded) during the World Cup earlier this month.

Said Darbon: “No. I have not received a call from President Trump and we will see what happens from here.”

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