Bryson DeChambeau Allegedly Warned He’d Call Trump If Penalty Decision Not Overturned

Key Points:

• Professional golfer Bryson DeChambeau was penalized two strokes at The Open Championship for unintentionally improving his lie by stepping on grass behind his ball, which changed his score on the hole from a bogey 5 to a triple-bogey 7 and dropped him three shots off the lead.
• DeChambeau reportedly threatened to call President Donald Trump to intervene in overturning the penalty, delaying his decision to continue in the tournament by two hours and postponing the release of third-round tee times.
• Rival golfer Rory McIlroy criticized DeChambeau’s actions as attention-seeking and said holding up the tournament was disrespectful to players, volunteers, and fans.
• DeChambeau has a well-known friendship with Trump, having played golf together and appeared in viral videos; he endorsed Trump in 2024 and serves on the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition.
• Ranked the fourth highest-paid golfer by Forbes with $52 million earned last year, DeChambeau is involved with the LIV Golf league but may transition to full-time content creation if his contract is not renewed, leveraging his 2.7 million YouTube subscribers.