"Infantile" Bryson DeChambeau told he held The Open hostage: "This is all on him"

Bryson DeChambeau held The Open "hostage" after receiving a two-shot penalty at Royal Birkdale, according to Golfweek columnist and Golf Channel contributor Eamon Lynch. 

The final men's major of the year descended into chaos on Friday evening after the American, 32, was deemed to have improved the intended area of his swing on the fifth hole. 

DeChambeau appeared set to head into moving day just one shot behind leader Lucas Herbert, but the penalty has left him three strokes off the Australian heading into his third round.

A furious DeChambeau was seen pleading his case with rules officials after being whisked back to the scene of the incident on a golf cart by Grant Moir, the R&A's director of governance. 

His participation in the 154th Open was thrown into doubt after the LIV Golf star appeared to tell Moir that he wouldn't play.

His agent, Brett Falkoff, later confirmed DeChambeau was mulling withdrawing. "He's a lot of things," Falkoff said. "But he's not a cheater. We'll see if he shows up tomorrow."

DeChambeau confirmed two minutes after midnight that he would continue, writing on X: "Obviously disappointed with the ruling. I don't agree with it, but it is what is."

He tees off alongside his Ryder Cup teammate, Sam Burns, at 15:30 BST. 

The aforementioned Lynch told Golf Channel's Live from The Open that DeChambeau's behaviour demonstrated all the reasons why the PGA Tour would want him back and also why he's not worth the hassle. 

"I mean what you saw was all the personality traits that I guess have defined Bryson over the years which is the inability to control his emotions," said Lynch. 

"We certainly saw that in the interaction with the rules officials, refusal to accept any kind of responsibility, a victim mentality.

"You see this kind of an unerring ability to turn what should be a great day or a great week for him into something that feels more like a stumble than anything else and this insistence that he can curate his own reality, that he can live in a safe space free from the media, free from being contradicted in any way which is just not realistic for any I think elite athlete these days."

Lynch said a rules breach doesn't stain a reputation. 

"It happens all the time, every week," he said. "What stains a reputation is acting in an infantile, unprofessional manner after it and that's what he's doing here. 

"This is all on him. This is a guy who just raised his self-sabotage to an art form."

Lynch appeared to indicate that DeChambeau would benefit by changing his entourage. 

"There's no evidence in his entire career that his team around him is good for anything except holding the coats and making flight reservations."

Lynch was also angry that DeChambeau held The Open "hostage" by not confirming whether he planned to withdraw. 

"Why should Sam Burns wonder? Unlikely as it is if he's going to go play as a single tomorrow because his agent says he's serious about potentially not playing. 

"He's not talking about withdrawing because of injury or illness, he's talking about withdrawing because of petulance.

"The R&A should say make that decision now and [say] we'll help you pack your bags if you want to leave and show you to the car park otherwise let's move on and show up tomorrow.

"This is the Open Championship, it is not the Bryson DeChambeau show but he doesn't seem to live in that world."

Keep up to date with DeChambeau's third round with our live blog.