Bryson DeChambeau isn't over it. A week removed from the Open Championship, and speaking to reporters at the LIV Golf UK event, he's still doing the math on how close he actually came to lifting the Claret Jug at Royal Birkdale. His conclusion? Two holes. That's the margin between where he finished and where he believes he should have been.
"Yeah, I made the cut. It was a good fight. I wish I'd have given it more on Saturday and Sunday; it felt like I could have," DeChambeau said. "Besides the fifth, being three over on it, and the 11th, that's six shots. That's tied for the lead right here. Two holes and I'm right there for the Claret Jug."
The penalty that changed everything
Rewind to the second round. DeChambeau walked off the course sitting second, seven-under, just one shot back of leader Lucas Herbert. Good position. Then, before he'd even signed his scorecard, officials flagged a potential rules breach from the fifth hole. Their contention: DeChambeau had improved his lie by standing in the long grass after his drive and flattening it out.
What followed wasn't quiet. DeChambeau and tournament officials were seen examining the exact spot where the alleged violation happened, and the exchange got heated. The penalty landed, two shots added, and DeChambeau dropped from a share of the lead down to a tie for fifth.
His agent, Brett Falkoff, later told reporters that DeChambeau was seriously weighing whether to withdraw from the tournament entirely, convinced he'd been penalized unfairly.
He stayed in, but the damage was already showing
DeChambeau didn't walk away. He played on. Saturday brought a one-under 69, a sign the anger hadn't completely derailed his game. Sunday told a different story. A triple bogey on the 11th hole wrecked his card, turning what could have been another solid round into a 72. He finished the tournament at four-under overall.
That left him tied for 14th alongside three other players, six shots outside the two holes he keeps coming back to in his own head.
A pattern that's hard to ignore
At 32, DeChambeau has now played the Open Championship seven times. This latest result marks his fifth finish outside the top 10 in those seven appearances. Whatever frustration he's carrying isn't just about one bad penalty ruling. It's about a major that keeps not quite going his way, even when he's right there in contention heading into the weekend.
He's not blaming the penalty entirely, either. Listen to his own breakdown and it's the fifth hole and the 11th that haunt him, not a rules official's decision on a Friday afternoon. Two specific holes, six specific shots, and a Claret Jug that stayed just out of reach again.