McIlroy slams DeChambeau at The Open for holding tournament hostage
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Rory McIlroy hit one of the biggest shots of the day during his press conference at The Open on Saturday.
McIlroy, 37, walked off Bryson DeChambeau on Friday when asked about DeChambeau’s behavior after the 32-year-old was assessed a two-stroke penalty following a long and heated interaction with rules officials after the round.
“I’m not going to stand here and act like I’m defending Bryson,” McIlroy told reporters after shooting a one-under 69 in the third round. “I don’t really like him. I think a lot of it is for performance. I think a lot of it is for attention.
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Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau (Bill Streicher/Imagn Images; Bill Streicher/Imagn Images)
“Holding the tournament hostage like that and having all of us (players, volunteers, everyone) waiting for it to go away doesn’t seem like a good look to me.”
The two-time Masters champion said he had no doubt that DeChambeau had improved his back-putting line and that his actions “didn’t look right.”
“There’s no question he’s improved his backstroke,” McIlroy said. “Again, whether it was careless or intentional, I don’t think it matters. I hope it was carelessness, but I think the two-shot penalty was absolutely justified.”
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Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy tees off on the seventh hole on day three of the British Open Golf championship at Royal Birkdale golf club in Southport, England, on Saturday, July 18, 2026. (Peter Morrison/AP)
Other golfers were a little more sympathetic to DeChambeau, with former Open champion Xander Schauffele calling the situation unfortunate.
“He said he didn’t do it on purpose, and it’s unfortunate that he got penalized because he played incredibly well, and of course he’s still playing incredibly well,” Schauffele said. he said. “So obviously he’ll have something to prove in the next two days.”
DeChambeau had a solid response to his two-stroke penalty in the third round as he finished the day with 6 points, finishing the day with a -1 point in the tournament. He is four strokes behind Sam Burns, who leads the tournament at 10-under par after shooting 5-under par on Saturday.
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Bryson DeChambeau speaks with a rules official before playing his shot on the 18th hole on the third day of the British Open Golf Championship at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England, on Saturday, July 18, 2026. (Peter Morrison/AP)
If DeChambeau falls within two strokes of the winner on Sunday, the discourse on the two-stroke penalty won’t be dissipating anytime soon.
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McIlroy sits 30th in the tournament, 2 under par, and will need a perfect round and a lot of help to get into contention on Sunday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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