Watch: Ian Poulter fumes after Bryson DeChambeau’s drive nearly hits him
Watch: Ian Poulter fumes after Bryson DeChambeau’s drive nearly hits him
James CorriganThu, July 23, 2026 at 7:10 PM UTC
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Ian Poulter (pictured) did not cast blame on Bryson DeChambeau for the incident - Mike Egerton/PA
Ian Poulter reacted in fury when he was almost hit by Bryson DeChambeau’s drive at the $30m LIV UK event on Thursday.
The Englishman was not initially aware whose shot had come within inches of potentially causing him serious physical damage at the JCB Country Club, but he evidently heard no verbal warning as he screamed “fore!!” at the top of his voice to convey his anger.
When told a few seconds later, DeChambeau cast a sorrowful look, holding out his hands as if to say “oh not me again – what have I done now?”. In DeChambeau’s defence, he was unsighted and it has become a depressingly widespread practice in the professional game to fail to deliver the traditional alert. DeChambeau was clearly disappointed with the scenario and it is understood he apologised to Poulter.
“It was not his fault at all,” Poulter said after the round. “It just grazed my ear on the way past, it was very close. It would have hurt a lot. That was a shock to the system, the heart rate went up quite a bit. When you hear that ball cutting through the air as it passes you.
“We were 40 further yards up looking for Jon’s [Rahm] ball in the fescue, it took three minutes to find his ball and then I walked back to my ball. Those guys were probably on the tee for a long time and you can’t see that portion of the fairway. It is not his fault, it is just one of those things.”
DeChambeau also faced up to the media for the first time in five rounds after refusing to conduct press conferences during the Open Championship. He was not directly asked about the two-shot penalty he picked up during the second round at Royal Birkdale – a sanction to which he objected so vehemently that he threatened to withdraw and to phone President Trump – but he referenced the incident in which the referees took action for DeChambeau “inadvertently improving his lie”.
“There’s moments of adversity in everybody’s life, and I was passionate about what I believed and thought was right,” he said. “For me, it’s now in a place that it is what it is, and you keep moving through it and you keep moving past it.”
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Ironically, without that two-shot penalty he would have been in Saturday’s final grouping alongside Lucas Herbert. And the Australian is the only player ahead of him once more after a brilliant 61, took him to 11-under and three ahead of DeChambeau.
“I put up a good fight [at Royal Birkdale],” DeChambeau said “ I wish I would have given it more on Saturday and Sunday. I felt like I could have. Besides the fifth hole [where he picked up his penalties on the Friday] and being three-over on that hole and then the 11th hole [where he made a triple-bogey on the Sunday], that’s six shots. That’s tied for the lead right there. That’s two holes and I’m right there with the Claret Jug.”
What eventual champion Ryan Fox might make of those comments is anyone’s guess, but for now DeChambeau is undoubtedly the star attraction at the Uttoxeter layout and the organisers will say Amen to that.
LIV Golf is in turmoil as it attempts to secure investors to ensure its survival into 2027, with the Saudi Public Investment Fund, which has ploughed more than $5bn into the breakaway circuit in the last four years, pulling its funding at the end of this season. A DeChambeau success on Sunday could be good news for LIV’s sales pitch.
There was other golfing drama 350 miles north in Ayrshire, where the Women’s Scottish Open is taking place ahead of the AIG Women’s Open next week at Royal Lytham & St Annes.
Charley Hull was one the favourites going into the dual-sanctioned event, but playing with world No 1 Nelly Korda, the Englishwoman suffered a nightmare on the fifth. Hull had a 12-footer for a birdie on the par four, but with a vicious slope beyond the hole, watched her effort roll off the putting surface.
It then took Hull four chips to get back onto the green and she ended up with a quintuple-bogey nine. Hull kept it together to post 78, but on six-over, she is 12 shots behind the leader, Korea’s Jenny Shin, with Korda on level par at Dundonald Links.
Source: “AOL Sports”
