The oldest golf major is also the last major of the season. The Open Championship, or British Open, started in 1860 and is 35 years older than its nearest challenger, the U.S. Open. Golf, as sport, prides itself on integrity, and players self policing themselves. As far as following the rules, there is, on occasion, situations where players are assessed a penalty that they don’t agree with. And that was the case this past weekend at the open championship at Royal Berksdale.
Bryson Deschambeau was assessed a two stroke penalty after a second round by illegally improving the conditions affecting his stroke. In other words, big Bryson trumped down on some tall grass around his ball. Officials determined his actions improved his backswing path, and since players are not allowed to move or bend grass, he was penalized. Deschambeau’s round went from 7 under to 5 under, he spent 15 minutes after the round arguing his cause.
On Saturday, Bryson took several jabs and even engaged the crowd, mocking his, Mocking lies of his ball in the rough. His attempts to make light of the situation helped take away from his mental focus, which arguably could have helped his score climb while he fell down the leaderboard. Even though the conclusion of the 3rd round, Deschambault, was the only previous major winner to be found in the top 10.
He would never seriously contend on Sunday, but he teaches us all a very important lesson. All we can control is what we can control.
Officials make calls, that is their job, and players’ job is to stay focused and play until the end. If Bryson would have done that, he would have he might have secured his 3rd major championship.
