Lucas Herbert held a two-goal lead after a packed second round at The 154th Open Championship, which saw two players tie for a historic major and Bryson DeChambeau involved in a controversial rules decision.
DeChambeau was asked about his strategy for playing the majors before arriving at Royal Birkdale after missing the Masters, the PGA Championship and the US Open, and the two-time major champion responded by posting an opening-round 67 with a four-under 66.
It took the American to seven under par, and during Herbert’s shot, which tied for the lowest round in men’s major history despite carding the final hole an eight-under 62, only a lengthy review of the rules saw DeChambeau issue a double penalty for accidentally improving his lie on the fifth hole after hitting his ball into the air.
In a statement, R&A umpire Grant Moir said: “Bryson was penalized two strokes for inadvertently improving his intended teeing area on the fifth hole when he played his second shot. Rule 8.1 limits what a player can do to improve any protected conditions affecting the stroke, and this includes the area of the player’s intended swing position to affect the player’s further swing. A good opportunity for a stroke I will emphasize that this applies even if the act has occurred, as it did in Bryson’s case.
After a decision by the officials, DeChambeau’s first bogey on the hole was turned into a triple-par seven, which dropped him to a 2-under 68, leaving him tied for fifth for the weekend.
Although there were rumors that the American player threatened to quit the tournament, he later took to social media to reveal his frustration but committed himself to trying to win his first Claret Jug. “Obviously I’m disappointed with the decision. I don’t agree with it, but that’s what we are. This makes me angry. Weekend. Let’s get it”, he wrote on X.
Back in action, Herbert will start the third round with a dual lead from Jackson Suber, Cameron Young and Ryan Gerard. Sam Burns, who starts day two at +3, remarkably matched the Australian’s 62 to stay at -5, a spot he shares with DeChambeau and Si Woo Kim.
The star-studded leaderboard sees Scottie Scheffler, Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm, Bob MacIntyre, Matt Wallace, Francesco Molinari, Thomas Detry, Bud Cauley and Alex Fitzpatrick all in the top four at 4, while Rory McIlroy sits seven back after posting a three-under 727 in his opening round.
Herbert and Burns compare great history
Six birdies on the first nine holes saw Herbert reach the turn of 28 and equal the lowest front-9 in major history, with back-to-back birdies from the 11th and another on the 16th taking him to nine under and putting multiple records under threat.
The 30-year-old Australian, who plays on the LIV Golf circuit, failed to birdie the par-five 17th despite finding a fairway, going left of his fairway and missing a 10-foot birdie putt, then failed to convert a four-foot par putt at the end to become the first man to shoot a sub-62 in major tournament history.
“It was great to hear that, and the nerves went down,” Herbert said. “I felt strong, everyone wanted it to happen and I felt like I let everyone down, because everyone wanted to be a part of watching that.”
Herbert’s round was just sixth of 62 in the men’s majors, but he was matched less than 30 minutes later by Burns, who finished his round with three consecutive birdies – including a greenside layup at the par-four final – to get back to eight under.
“When I got to the day I thought if I could get the red numbers for the tournament, that would be a great place,” Burns said. “I think finishing there on the last three holes was just a bonus.”
Overnight leader Jackson Suber added a one-under 69 to secure Saturday’s pairing with Herbert, while Cam Young and Ryan Gerard carded 67s to also move to six ahead of Burns and DeChambeau.
Rory McIlroy mixed four birdies and one bogey in an improved second round of 67, which included him driving the par-four ninth green for the second day in a row, with home favorite Fleetwood on the same score after birdieing three of his last five holes.
Just nine shots separate all 78 players who made the cut at +1 or better, with PGA champion Aaron Rai (+2), US Open winner Wyndham Clark (+3), Justin Rose (+3), Matt Fitzpatrick (+4) and 2017 champion Jordan Spieth (+10) among those 78 early exits.
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