American golfer Bryson DeChambeau stated that the two-stroke penalty at the British Open Championship 'energizes' him. This incident occurred on the third day of the 154th golf championship at Royal Birkdale Golf Club, where Ryan Fox became the third player in two days to achieve a record score of 62 in a major tournament, allowing him to contend for the lead on Saturday.
DeChambeau believed he was only one stroke away from the lead after completing the second round with birdie-birdie scores. However, on Friday evening, as dark clouds gathered over the Southport coast, the American was issued a two-stroke penalty for 'inadvertently improving' his ball's position while preparing for the second shot on the fifth hole. It was observed that DeChambeau was tamping down the long grass while preparing for a practice swing.
The two-time US Open champion returned to the scene along with an official rules representative after the round concluded. According to Sky Sports, he even threatened to withdraw from the tournament. Nevertheless, DeChambeau returned for the weekend, qualifying for a major tournament for the first time this year. He posted on social media: 'Obviously disappointed with this decision. I disagree with it, but what can you do. It energizes me. Onwards to the weekend. Let's do this.'
Mark Darbon, Chief Executive Officer of the R&A tournament organizers, noted that the decision was 'very clear from a rules perspective.' Darbon declined to confirm whether DeChambeau had been asked to leave the last two rounds. He told the BBC: 'One could say there was some emotional tension around this, and we will keep some aspects of this discussion private.' He added: 'I sympathize with this. Bryson played a great round of golf, he is in the fight in a major championship, he wants to win the original major golf tournament. We focused on the rules and conducting a fair assessment.'
Instead of playing in the final group alongside leader Lucas Herbert, DeChambeau will start his round in the third-to-last group, three strokes behind the leader, and will be playing with fellow American Sam Burns. Both Herbert and Burns achieved the historic low round score of 62 in a major championship on Friday. New Zealander Fox followed their example, joining Herbert at the top of the leaderboard with eight under par. Prior to yesterday, there were five rounds of 62 in major tournament history, and now there are eight, achieved by seven different players.
Fox attributed the surge in 62 scores to good weather and excellent course conditions, noting that the greens might be slightly softer in the morning. After six birdies in the first ten holes, Fox's attempt at a historic 61 was marred by a bogey on the 13th hole. He recovered with three birdies in the final five holes to enter the contention before Sunday's final round. The tournament promises to be spectacular on the northwest coast of England, where the biggest golf stars have gathered. Cameron Young, fourth in the world rankings, starts his third round six under par. World number one and defending champion Scottie Scheffler is two strokes behind but also in the race, four under par, alongside home favorite Tommy Fleetwood and two-time major winner Jon Rahm. Rory McIlroy's hopes of moving up the leaderboard seem diminished, as he trailed by one stroke after eight holes to reach even par for the tournament. However, a monumental drive and chip that brought the eagle on the par-four ninth hole brought the Masters champion back within six strokes of the leader at timeout.
Despite a 45-minute delay in the match, the Junior Springboks managed to defeat France 16-5 in the U20 Rugby World Cup final, which took place in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Saturday evening.
The Junior Boks retained their title by securing a tense victory over the French team. This win extended their unbeaten streak in the tournament to 11 games and marked their first victory over Les Bleus since 2019.
This success marks the first time South Africa has combined victories in two consecutive senior World Cup tournaments with two consecutive junior titles. This brings them closer to France's record of three consecutive junior world cup championships.
Earlier on Saturday, the Springboks had beaten Wales. Early in the game, Yakin Ahmed calmed nerves by converting a penalty in the eighth minute. However, the slippery pitch made the first half a battle full of errors.
During the match, France attempted to score through Romeo Bonnard Martin, but the goal was disallowed due to an infringement by South African fullback Alzeadon Felix. Ahmed then doubled the lead by converting a long-range penalty in the final minutes of the first half, allowing them to go into halftime with a 6-0 advantage.
The French were able to respond six minutes into the second half when Raphael Odebert went out of bounds, narrowing the gap to 6-5. Tension mounted when Samuel Badenhorst saw a South African touchdown disallowed for ball contact, but the breakthrough came in the 66th minute.
Marcus Müller, using a powerful maul, chose an excellent trajectory and managed to break through for a try, which Ahmed converted. Towards the end of the match, attempts by Cheswell Joste and Ahmed were rejected by the referees, but a decisive penalty from Ahmed for a high tackle secured a memorable and very hard-fought victory for the Junior Boks.
Peter-Steph du Toit, who served as the reserve captain for the Springboks, shared his impressions of seeing brothers Kobus and Jasper Wieße play together for South Africa for the first time. He called this moment special after the world champions secured a convincing 43-0 victory over Wales in the Nations Championship at Kings Park on Saturday.
The combination of the Wieße brothers immediately had a strong impact on the game: Kobus made a powerful run through the center of the field, then passed the ball to Jasper, who scored the first try less than five minutes into the match.
Du Toit, who previously played alongside his brother Johan, understands the significance of this event. He noted: 'I think it is an incredible privilege because I also played with my brother in the past.' He added that the opportunity to play with brothers for the Springboks is a huge honor, and the brothers' parents, as well as the brothers themselves, should be proud of each other.
Du Toit emphasized that both Wieße brothers put forth tremendous effort to reach their level. He mentioned that they had the chance to play together last year, but circumstances were different, and today it finally happened.
Despite Du Toit leading a different starting lineup in each of the three Springboks games in the Nations Championship, he stated that his leadership style remained unchanged. He explained that he tries to stick to what works for him: 'I just try to stick to what works for me. I go out there, participate in as many battles as possible, and give everything I can. We have many experienced players in this squad, so I don't feel the need to change who I am.'
Springboks are now shifting their focus to Argentina, where they will begin the away leg of their Nations Championship campaign before facing their greatest rugby rivalry against New Zealand in subsequent matches.
Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus gave high praise to Wusi Moyo's performance following his official debut against Wales, which took place in Durban on Saturday.
Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus shared his opinion on Wusi Moyo's debut in the match that ended 43-0 in favor of the team against Wales on Saturday evening in Durban. Moyo, who is a junior Springbok player and is only 20 years old, became the center of international attention. Erasmus provided a balanced assessment of his game.
Erasmus noted: 'I think Wusi played nervously, but that would be normal.' He also emphasized that Moyo became the youngest player at the winger position ever to play for the Springboks, being six months younger than Patrick Lambie, another winger from the Sharks.
The coach explained that debuting against a top-tier team at such a young age is very difficult. 'Look, we have Sasha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who is returning from injury before the friendly match against Argentina on August 8. He will play against the Pumas,' Erasmus continued. He also added that Handre Pollard suffered a hamstring strain against Scotland and was not ready for this match, but he is now healthy.
Erasmus explained that in the match against Wales, the team could not use either Sasha or Handre, and they did not want to field Mani in the starting lineup. The coach stated that the 43-0 score required significant effort. 'It might not have looked like it, but we had to fight for this win. For a long time, the score was 14-0 before we could take the lead.'
In conclusion, Erasmus reported that the team lacked two wingers, and they wanted to consider Wusi's potential as the next winger, given that they also wanted to study Yakin Ahmed, who is an exceptional winger but is currently in Georgia with the SA U-20 team. 'He was next in line. We did not want to promote Damian (Williams) in this game; we wanted to see how Wusi would cope.'
