Southport, England
The British Open came to life Friday when Lucas Herbert and Sam Burns took their place in history by tying the major championship record with 62s, and Bryson DeChambeau getting penalized two shots after his round for inadvertently improving the path of his swing.
In the midst of all the late drama was Jon Rahm getting an official conduct warning for throwing his club after a bad tee shot.
Herbert was slightly disappointed with his record-tying round because he missed a 5-foot par putt that would have given him a 61. Burns didn’t even know he tied a record. But there was no mistaking the frustration of DeChambeau, who tends to draw attention no matter what he does.
DeChambeau was hand-slapping with the gallery when he finished birdie-birdie for a 4-under 66, leaving him one shot behind Herbert going into the weekend. That changed when officials asked him to review his shot from the fifth hole.
DeChambeau asked to be taken to the scene of the infraction, in thick, high grass to the right of the 321-yard hole, and television cameras picked him up arguing with them.
He hit into knee-high grass to the right and was stomping around as he tried to figure out how to navigate a shot 72 yards from the hole. At issue was whether he violated Rule 8 that governs the intended swing.
DeChambeau was seen waving his arms and pointing in clear frustration. Officials eventually deemed a section of grass behind the ball was tamped down that might have affected his backswing on the shot.
DeChambeau made bogey on the hole, which became a triple bogey. His score went from a 66 to a 68. Instead of one shot behind, he was three shots behind and tied for fifth. Even more drama followed when DeChambeau — who has stopped talking to the media — stormed off to the range.
His agent, Brett Falkoff, was asked if the two-time U.S. Open champion would play on Saturday and replied, “We’ll see,” he said. “Your guess is as good as mine.”
Herbert was long gone when all this was taking place, with mixed emotions about a short miss on the final hole but proud to become the sixth person to shoot 62 in a major. And then 22 minutes later, Burn holed out from a pot bunker for a birdie-birdie-birdie finish to become the seventh.
Burns wasn’t even supposed to be at The Open. His wife was due with their second child this week, but when she had a daughter earlier than expected — July 3 — Burns decided last Friday to come across for another shot at a major. He was runner-up by one shot in the U.S. Open.
When the dust finally settled on the brown-baked links of Royal Birkdale, the only clarity was Herbert at 8-under 132 with his first 36-hole lead in a major. And golf’s oldest championship, which rarely lacks for drama, had almost more than it could handle.
Defending champion Scottie Scheffler couldn’t buy a putt until a 12-footer for par on the final hole gave him a 68 and left him only four shots behind.
Jackson Suber and Ryan Gerard, a pair of newcomers to links golf, were tied for second with Cameron Young.
Rahm, who missed a 4-foot birdie putt on the final hole and shot 67, was very much in the mix just four shots behind and not about to change his intensity, even though another conduct violation would be a two-shot penalty.
