Bryson DeChambeau tried to get out of a tough lie by arguing for 4 minutes that there were too many fire ants near his ball

• Bryson DeChambeau got into another argument with a rules official on the course on Thursday in the opening round of the FedEx St. Jude Invitational.
• After his drive on the seventh hole, DeChambeau was left with a terrible lie, his ball sitting between two sticks.
• Rather than take his lumps and lay up, DeChambeau asked for a rules official to take a look at his lie.
• DeChambeau then argued for about four minutes that he could not hit his shot, due to fire ants that were near his ball.
• The rules official didn't offer relief, and DeChambeau would go on to score a double-bogey.

Bryson DeChambeau is at it again.

After bulking up in quarantine, DeChambeau's powerful new swing has been the biggest story in golf since the sport returned to its weekly tournament schedule.

But on Thursday, DeChambeau had his second meltdown in as many weeks, arguing with a rules official for nearly four minutes hoping to get a drop that no one believed he deserved in the first round of the FedEx St. Jude Invitational.

DeChambeau's misadventure began at the par 4 No. 7 after an errant drive left him with a difficult lie on his second shot going in towards the green. DeChambeau's ball had settled between two sticks — an inconvenient lie that would surely be difficult to escape cleanly.

But before taking his shot, DeChambeau called over a rules official Ken Tackett to take a look at his lie, and began arguing that the fire ants in the vicinity of his ball deemed him worthy of relief.

Tackett wasn't convinced.

—CJ Fogler #BlackLivesMatter (@cjzero) July 30, 2020

"I just don't see it Bryson," Tackett said. "There's a couple down there, but I don't see fire ants."

DeChambeau would plead his case a bit more, before eventually conceding the argument nearly four minutes later and taking his shot.

—Rick Golfs (@Rickgolfstx) July 30, 2020

In fairness to DeChambeau, he had a case to make.

According to USGA rule 16.2a, "A 'dangerous animal condition' exists when a dangerous animal (such as poisonous snakes, stinging bees, alligators, fire ants or bears) near a ball could cause serious physical injury to the player if he or she had to play the ball as it lies."

Given his terrible lie, pushing the boundaries of the rule book was well worth a shot for a player that is clearly down to push the limits of the sport in every fashion. That said, DeChambeau was never going to win this case.

For Bryson, it was the second argument with a rules official he's had in as many tournaments, with his meltdown at the Memorial Tournament two weeks ago leaving him with a quintuple-bogey and blowing his shot at making the cut.

Thankfully for DeChambeau, this time around, he was able to escape with a double-bogey and is still well in contention heading into the weekend.

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