Bryson DeChambeau held up play at The Open Championship for nearly an hour while pushing to have President Donald Trump brought into a dispute over a two-stroke penalty.
The dispute played out at Royal Birkdale during the 154th Open Championship on Friday.
DeChambeau, a LIV Golf star, had finished his second round Friday evening at 7 under par, believing he was one shot off the lead.
But officials from the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews were waiting for him at the scoring area.
They had reviewed video from the 5th hole, where DeChambeau’s tee shot had found tall rough earlier in the round, according to CBS Sports. Video showed DeChambeau appearing to “purposefully stomp” the grass behind his ball to clear a path for his swing, CBS Sports’ Robby Kalland reported.
“Bryson has been penalized two strokes for inadvertently improving the area of his intended swing,” R&A executive director of governance Grant Moir said. “I would reiterate: This rule applies even when there’s no intention to improve the area, as was the case with Bryson.”