DeChambeau 'fired up' for weekend after Open penalty

But the 32-year-old was whisked away by rules officials after his round to the scene of what they felt had been a rules infringement earlier at the fifth hole.

DeChambeau had been accused of trampling on long grass close to his ball which cleared the way for him to get a clean backswing, but he was clearly desperately unhappy about any such suggestion as he could be seen vehemently protesting his innocence.

There was even a suggestion that he told officials he wouldn't be playing on Saturday if he was penalised.

It was later confirmed he had been given a two-shot penalty for "inadvertently improving his lie", which pushed him to five-under for the tournament, now three shots behind Herbert and down to tied-fifth place behind three other Americans, Cameron Young, Ryan Gerard and Jackson Suber.

"Bryson has been penalised two strokes for inadvertently improving the area of intended backswing on the fifth hole," said R&A rules official Grant Moir, stressing it had been an "accidental" violation of the rule by the American.

The two-time US Open champion later refused to confirm he would definitely be playing in Saturday's third round, refusing to answer any questions when he walked past the media, saying only: "Are you guys having a great night? I'm having a great night."

One report had suggested he was so annoyed by the ruling he had been talking about not playing on Saturday, although he did later go off to the range with darkness gathering with his team to "hit some balls".

DeChambeau's agent, Brett ‌Falkoff, claimed on Friday night his client instead will wait until the sun rises to decide whether to even participate in another hole at Royal Birkdale.

"He's a lot of things. He's not a cheater," Falkoff told reporters. "He's a big boy. He'll see how he feels. But he ‌certainly feels he was unfairly penalised."

But a couple of hours later, DeChambeau quashed the speculation he would abandon his bid for a first Claret Jug by posting on X: "Obviously disappointed with the ruling. I don't agree with it, but it is what it is. This fires me up. Onto the weekend. Let's get it."

On Instagram he was even more creative, posting a couple of digitally manipulated pictures of him floating above the rough at the site of his infringement - an obvious reference to not touching the long grass - while officials discussed the ruling, accompanied by the words: "Walking into the weekend like …"

DeChambeau's penalty wasn't the only controversial incident of the day as Jon Rahm, who shot a 67 to get to four under, was given an official warning under the tournament's serious misconduct policy for throwing a club after his tee shot on the 15th hole.

with agencies