Rory McIlroy did not hold back in his assessment of Bryson DeChambeau's conduct following a rules dispute at The Open Championship, calling the golfer's actions "performative" and unnecessary. DeChambeau was assessed a two-stroke penalty after a lengthy interaction with rules officials on Friday regarding whether he had improved his lie.
"I won’t pretend to be up here and defend Bryson," McIlroy told reporters Saturday after his third round. "I’m not particularly fond of him. I think a lot of it is performative. I think a lot of it’s for attention." McIlroy added that DeChambeau's actions "hold the tournament hostage" and caused delays for players, volunteers, and officials.
McIlroy stated he had no doubt that DeChambeau improved the line for his backswing, and that the penalty was justified regardless of intent. "I think there’s no doubt that he improved the line of his backswing," McIlroy said. "Again, it’s like, 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."
DeChambeau responded to the penalty with a third-round score of 1-under par, bringing his tournament total to 6-under. He is currently four strokes behind leader Sam Burns, who finished Saturday at 10-under. Should DeChambeau finish within two strokes of the eventual winner on Sunday, the controversy surrounding his penalty is likely to continue.
Other golfers offered a more sympathetic view. Former Open champion Xander Schauffele described the situation as unfortunate, noting that DeChambeau maintained his innocence and was playing well. "He said he didn’t do it intentionally, and it’s unfortunate that he got penalized because he was playing incredibly well and obviously he’s still playing incredibly well," Schauffele said.
McIlroy is currently tied for 30th at 2-under par for the tournament. The final round is scheduled for Sunday.