Rory McIlroy has accused Bryson DeChambeau of holding the Open Championship "hostage" following a rules infraction during the second round at Royal Birkdale. DeChambeau received a two-stroke penalty for "inadvertently improving his lie" before a shot on the fifth hole, a decision that dropped him from one off the lead to three shots back.
McIlroy, who was second in the 2024 U.S. Open, stated that he had "no doubt" about the validity of the penalty. "I think there's no doubt that he improved the line of his backswing," McIlroy said. "Whether it was careless or whether it was intentional, I don't think it matters. Hopefully it was careless, but I think the two-shot penalty was justified for sure."
The golfer also criticized the prolonged discussions between DeChambeau and R&A rules officials, which occurred both during and after the round. These discussions led to a delay in the release of Saturday's tee times. "I won't pretend to defend Bryson," McIlroy stated. "I'm not particularly fond of him. I think a lot of it's performative. I think a lot of it's for attention. 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."
The incident marked another point of tension between the two players, who have been rivals in recent golf tournaments.