Sir Nick Faldo offers verdict on Bryson DeChambeau Open drama: "He lost the plot"

Sir Nick Faldo believes Bryson DeChambeau cannot have any complaints after receiving a two-shot penalty during the second round of The Open. 

DeChambeau was deemed to have improved the area of his intended swing path before playing his second shot on the fifth hole at Royal Birkdale on Friday. 

He thought he had signed for a 66, leaving him one stroke behind leader Lucas Herbert ahead of moving day at the final major of the year.

Instead, the 32-year-old American will start three behind fellow LIV Golf star Herbert after being punished under rule 8.1. 

Faldo, who criticised DeChambeau's lack of strategy before a ball was struck this week, told Sky Sports that he believed the R&A made the correct decision and handled the dramatic situation "beautifully". 

"You cannot remove anything in your intended swing path," said the 68-year-old. 

"It was totally inadvertent but it has nothing to do with that, it has nothing to do with Bryson, but he is a golfer that has put his foot down and moved the grass. It is in the rule book."

Faldo added: "The R&A handled it beautifully. Bottom line – job done. 'Sorry mate, you've got a two-shot penalty'." 

DeChambeau was only told of the sanction after putting the finishing touches on his round, hours after the incident occurred. 

It led to extraordinary scenes whereby the two-time U.S. Open champion kept everyone guessing over whether or not he was going to continue his quest for a first Claret Jug. 

His agent, Brett Falkoff, told reporters as DeChambeau hit balls on the range late into the night: "We'll see if he shows up tomorrow."

Some players, such as England's Marco Penge and the USA's Justin Thomas, complained on social media as it led to a delay in the publication of tee times. 

DeChambeau confirmed two minutes after midnight that he would make his 15:30 BST tee time on Saturday. 

But his behaviour didn't go down well with some golf pundits, who accused DeChambeau of holding The Open "hostage". 

"He lost the plot for a couple of minutes," Faldo said as he he re-watched video clips of DeChambeau angrily remonstrating with tournament officials, pleading his case. "The video is pretty factual."

Faldo said "no player is bigger than the game" and the incident needn't have dragged on for so long. 

"Bryson wants to be the centre of attention and everything," he added.

And Faldo believes the situation is simply another hurdle for DeChambeau to climb.

"I mean, I always thought you wanted to come into a major and keep your mind and body on a lovely kind of zen keel," he said. 

"And for him, to be having to deal with all this emotion, whether it fires him up or not, we will see. 

"But I've got to believe it's another hurdle to climb."

Added Paul McGinley: "He's made himself the story now. At the end of the day, he's going to be the story. 

"If he plays poorly, it's because of what the horrible R&A did to me with the ruling and if he plays well it's because I'm fired up because of what they did."