Rory McIlroy on Saturday said that Bryson DeChambeau tried to hold The Open Championship “hostage” and was begging for attention after the American reacted angrily to being given a two-shot penalty.
DeChambeau thought he had climbed to within one shot of the lead with a birdie-birdie finish to his second round on Friday, but with dark descending on the Southport links, he was handed a two-stroke penalty for “inadvertently improving” his lie as he addressed his second shot at the fifth hole.
DeChambeau appeared to trample down long grass as he addressed his ball for a practice swing.
Photo: EPA
The two-time US Open champion traveled back to the site of the incident with a rules official after completing his round and Sky Sports reported he had even threatened to withdraw from the tournament.
As a result there was a delay in the publication of Saturday’s tee times for the rest of the field.
“I won’t pretend to be up here and defend Bryson. I’m not particularly fond of him. I think a lot of it’s performative. I think a lot of it’s for attention,” McIlroy said.
“To hold the tournament hostage like that, and to have all of us, players, volunteers, everyone waiting on him to depart, I didn’t feel like it was a great look,” he added.
Tournament organizers said they did not believe DeChambeau had deliberately cheated, but added that “even when the action is accidental,” a penalty is applied.
“I was watching it live. I was up in the players lounge watching it with a few other players and as soon as he made the step into the ball, we all sort of looked at each other, and we were like: ‘That didn’t seem right,’” McIlroy said.
“I think there’s no doubt that he improved the line of his backswing. Again, it’s like, whether it was careless or whether it was intentional, I don’t think it matters,” he said. “Hopefully it was careless, but I think the two-shot penalty was justified for sure.”
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler was playing alongside DeChambeau at the time of the incident, and later hinted that he was uncomfortable with the attitude of his Ryder Cup teammate.
“I do have a ton to say. I haven’t decided exactly what I want to say publicly yet,” Scheffler said. “I do have some thoughts. I just don’t really feel like now is the time or place for me to comment.”
Sam Burns on Saturday took a two-shot lead ahead of the final round.
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