Furious Bryson DeChambeau makes decision on The Open after screaming at rules officials and threatening to pull out over bizarre ‘cheating’ scandal

Bryson DeChambeau has confirmed he will participate in the third round of The Open after threatening to withdraw following a fierce row over his two-stroke penalty.

The American had raised the possibility of an extraordinary withdrawal during a tantrum with officials after his second-round 66 was reduced to 68 over accusations that he had improved his position on the fifth hole at Royal Birkdale.

DeChambeau’s manager Brett Falkoff later refused to rule out the possibility of the double US Open champion withdrawing, but has now indicated that Lucas Hubert will be on course at 3.30pm on Saturday to close his three-stroke deficit.

The 32-year-old wrote on social media: ‘I’m obviously disappointed with the decision. I don’t agree with that, but that’s the way it is. This gets me fired up. Towards the end of the week. Let’s get it.’

This saga will be among the most dramatic of the Open’s 154 editions, with DeChambeau reporting a violation was flagged in television footage after his round. He quickly demanded to be taken to the scene in a car, where he assaulted two law enforcement officials.

DeChambeau was visibly angry as he protested his innocence over what he later described as an “inadvertent enhancement of the area” behind first umpire Grant Moir’s ball.

LIV Golf star sent back to fifth hole to debate whether he improved his lie

Footage of the original incident showed DeChambeau driving through tall grass and placing his right foot directly behind his ball; this was a move that flattened the grass and allowed for an easier turnaround.

Unable to convince the authorities that there was no improvement in his lie, DeChambeau demanded that Daily Mail Sport photographer Kevin Quigley ‘stop taking pictures’ before embarking on a 30-minute argument with tournament bosses in the scorer’s box.

Eventually, he greeted the more than 50 waiting reporters with a ‘how’s your evening’ and, without further comment, signed autographs for a single fan waiting there. He stayed until 10.30pm without any confirmation from his camp that he would play the next day.

Falkoff added: ‘The only comment I would make is that they felt he wasn’t careful enough when walking a sensitive area around the golf ball, so he improved his swing path when it wasn’t even near the fairways.’

DeChambeau will return with five points – three behind Herbert, who tied the lowest round ever at the major with a 62 – and will then be paired with Sam Burns, who is tied for fifth place with DeChambeau at five under.

Head umpire Moir said: ‘Bryson was penalized with two strokes for mistakenly improving the intended tee shot, so he planned to putt back on the 5th hole when making his second putt.

‘Rule 1 restricts what a player can do to improve any of the protected conditions affecting the stroke, and this includes the player’s intended hitting area. Improving therefore means changing one or more of the conditions affecting the stroke so that the player gains a potential advantage for the stroke.

‘I will now emphasize that this is true even when the action is accidental, as in Bryson’s case.’

Soon DeChambeau’s score on the official leaderboard was changed to 68

At the end of the dramatic saga he was in fifth place, three shots behind leader Lucas Herbert.

DeChambeau expressed doubts about his continued participation in The Open this weekend

The shocker comes after DeChambeau seemingly silenced Sir Nick Faldo’s pre-tournament nonsense that he had introduced ‘zero strategy’ for linking the courses. He proved to be a serious contender here, posting scores of 67 and 66 before being reduced to 68. Now, after such a heated result in the second round, his quest will attract even more attention.

As Herbert hit balls on the range after dark, he thought about the round of his life; He was finally breaking a record that was so big that he missed a goal by almost five feet. The 30-year-old Australian, who has missed the cut three times in five previous starts at the Open, tore Birkdale apart in favorable morning conditions.

Only after completing the front nine in just 28 strokes did attention turn to LIV. Later, three-deep galleries followed.

‘My first golf memory is my dad waking me up to watch Chad Campbell in the first round of the 2009 Masters because at the time he looked like he had a really good chance of shooting 62 and breaking the record,’ Herbert said.

‘I thought, if a child were woken up by their parents to watch me finish this round because this record would be broken, that would be so cool and it would make me pink. I hope so. I hope some of the guys were disappointed that I shot 62 and didn’t make that putt in the final putt.’

Herbert will no doubt enjoy popular support, helped in part by British assistant Nick Pugh, who stands out for his huge beard. Oddly enough, he was also given the task of officiating Herbert’s wedding last year.

Although this innovation was quickly accompanied by American Ryder Cupper and Scottie Scheffler’s best friend Burns, it was impossible not to be fascinated by this story.

We’ve become more accustomed to the challenges Burns faces in the majors; The 29-year-old was seventh at the Masters and second at the US Open last month. He works like a machine and is on the verge of his breakthrough, but there is another detail: his daughter was born three days early on July 3, and he would have missed this tournament if he had made the deadline. As it turned out, he decided to play only last Friday.

It rose because of this rush. His birdies on each of the final three holes matched Herbert’s 62, with the flourish of getting the last one out of a bad bunker on the 18th. Unlike history buff Herbert, who thought the record was possible from the third hole, Burns didn’t know he was tied until he left the green.

Herbert heads into the clubhouse at -8 to lead the rest of the field with two clear shots

He has a chance to become the first man in history to shoot 61 in a major championship.

Elaborating on his late decision to play, he said: ‘I think it was probably last Friday (he made the call). I thought your chances of competing were zero percent, but my manager said, ‘I’ll sign you up just in case.’ My wife and I had a lot of conversations and she encouraged me to come here and play and here we are.’

At six o’clock, Cameron Young and Jackson Suber were lurking, while Scottie Scheffler and Jon Rahm were two more down. The latter received a conduct warning after throwing a club on the 15th hole of his 67. Matt Wallace, Bob MacIntyre and Alex Fitzpatrick lead the English attack with under four points.

Rory McIlroy, meanwhile, is riding well, but his 67 made modest progress in the easier morning conditions. He will continue from seven behind, but it will at least be some consolation to know that the caliber of the player has fallen one level above the expected level.

These included thrilling home runs from winners of the last two majors, Wyndham Clark and Aaron Rai, as well as Justin Rose and Matt Fitzpatrick. Rose can blame a bad neck; Fitzpatrick had to complain about a series of unlucky bounces and improper placement of the bush in the sixth. His little brother Alex might be able to give him some tips next time.

These stories all had some value during a chaotic day, and each was overshadowed in a way that resonated with how it ended.