Bryson DeChambeau’s ongoing participation in the Open Championship was in doubt until after midnight on Friday, after extraordinary scenes at the conclusion of the 32-year-old’s second round at Royal Birkdale.

DeChambeau was handed a two-stroke penalty for improving the line of his swing in thick rough, with the scenario prompting a furious response from the American. The sanction shifted DeChambeau out of second place - one stroke behind the leader, Lucas Herbert - and left him in a tie for fifth.

The American appeared to have produced an excellent second round of 66. Before signing his card, however, he was brought into discussions with a tournament referee and Grant Moir, an executive director of the R&A. The incident in question was on the 5th, where DeChambeau was alleged to have trampled down grass behind his ball before playing.

DeChambeau is understood to have insisted upon a return to the scene - including with club in hand - to prove his innocence. The two-time major winner cut an increasingly furious figure as it was made plain to him the penalty would stand. DeChambeau then appeared to tell the officials he would not play in the third round, if that was the case.

Shortly after Friday turned to Saturday, DeChambeau posted on social media: “Obviously disappointed with the ruling. I don’t agree with it, but it is what it is. This fires me up. Onto the weekend. Let’s get it.”

Mark Darbon, the chief executive of the R&A, had joined the talks after DeChambeau returned to the scoring area. The player then emerged, moments before his aggregate score on the Open leaderboard was changed from seven to five under par. DeChambeau’s five at the 5th was modified to a seven.

After 10pm and in darkness on the Birkdale range, DeChambeau was still pounding drives while asking waiting reporters if they cared for any of his snacks. He had already asked what the media thought of his swing. When asked by the Guardian whether he would tee up on Saturday, DeChambeau said: “I’m going to practise, guys.”

Moir insisted via a statement that there was no sense of the Californian acting deliberately but that the punishment was appropriate. “Bryson has been penalised two strokes for inadvertently improving the area of his intended swing, so intended backswing on the 5th hole when he was playing his second shot,” said Moir. “Ruling 1 restricts what a player may do to improve any of the protected conditions affecting the stroke and this includes the area of the player’s intended swing. So an improvement means to alter one or more of the conditions affecting the stroke so that the player gains a potential advantage. Now, I’ll stress that this applies even when the action is accidental, as it was in Bryson’s case.”

That DeChambeau headed for a range session, which concluded at 10.30pm, at least suggested he had some notion of playing on. In 153 previous stagings, the Open had witnessed nothing akin to this. Life around DeChambeau is rarely dull.