Bryson DeChambeau ‘confused’ by rules amid poor PGA start

Hopes were high for Bryson DeChambeau heading into the 2026 PGA Championship. Coming off back-to-back runners in the last two PGAs, DeChambeau planned to detonate a bomb around Aronimink en route to his first PGA Championship.

But in Thursday’s opening round, Aronimink’s challenger beat the two-time major champion, sending his score up. And then, when a stray shot landed on the steps, the rules crippled DeChambeau in a moment that became the epitome of his disastrous opening round.

Here’s what you need to know.

DeChambeau dropped off the PGA Championship leaderboard on Day 1

DeChambeau’s PGA Championship went sideways from the start. When his shot went over the green on 11, his second hole of the day, Bryson put it 40 feet and made his first bogey.

He hit it long on the 13th, too, dropping another shot to move within two over of the tournament.

It didn’t get any better from there.

He closed out his first nine with back-to-back bombs to shoot 39 ahead. After settling down to make six consecutive pars after the turn, DeChambeau returned to bogey at 7.

On 8, he missed his tee shot well to the right side of the green, then holed his second on the other side of the putting area. A double bogey followed, sending DeChambeau down the leaderboard in a tie for 106th at seven over.

While many holes seemed to overwhelm DeChambeau on Thursday, it was on the par-4 2nd where the Rules of Golf got the best of the LIV Golf player.

DeChambeau discusses the legal rules after being shot on the stairs

Aronimink’s second hole presents an interesting test for the pros at this week’s PGA Championship. The par-4 is only 406 feet long, but has a sharp dogleg left. That proved too much for DeChambeau on Thursday.

He was already tied for fourth when he birdied the 2nd, his 11th hole of the day. He picked a wood off the tee but hit it, sending it ballooning to the right of the fairway, right into the grandstand.

Finally, Bryson’s ball landed on the first step leading to the grandstand.

This is where the confusion of the rules began. Moments later, cameras caught DeChambeau next to his ball in a deep conversation with a PGA rules official.

At the beginning of the video, a frustrated DeChambeau says, “I’m so confused right now” as the officer tries to explain the law to him.

The law in this case? A grandstand represents a temporary immovable barrier, which is considered an abnormal condition governed by Rule 16 of the Laws of Golf.

The USGA defines temporary fixed obstacles as “a structure that is temporarily added on or near a course, usually for a specific tournament, and that is fixed or not easily removable. Examples of TIOs are temporary tents, scoreboards, grandstands, television towers and restrooms.”

In the case of TIO, the player usually takes relief by dropping the ball in the relief area based on the nearest point of total relief.

That appears to be where DeChambeau and the law enforcement officer cross paths. With his ball on the stairs, DeChambeau had no doubt that he was allowed a free descent. But he initially thought that the rules official had declared that the muddy area in front of the steps was not the nearest resting place, which would have allowed DeChambeau to take the descent away from the grandstand. But the officer guided him.

“Oh, is there any relief from this?” DeChambeau asked the officer, pointing to the muddy area.

“Yes,” replied the officer.

“Oh right,” DeChambeau said back to him, finally understanding the situation. DeChambeau then looked at his caddy, pointed to the official and said, “He said it wasn’t him.”

With that cleared, DeChambeau hit a shot 156 yards to 22 feet, two-putting from there to finish with par.

You can watch a short video below.

While DeChambeau made a mess of holes 7 and 8, his 16th and 17th round, he ended the round on a high note. DeChambeau made his first birdie of the tournament on the par-5 9th, finishing with a six-over 76 in Round 1.

That means that on Friday DeChambeau will not fight to get into contention; he’ll just be fighting to make the cut.