Rory McIlroy has accused a “performative” Bryson DeChambeau of “holding the tournament hostage” after the incredible scenes which marked the end of the American’s second round at the Open.
DeChambeau’s antics were matched in noteworthy terms by the scathing sentiment of McIlroy on Saturday. “I won’t pretend to be up here and defend Bryson,” said McIlroy. “I’m not particularly fond of him.”
DeChambeau was penalised two strokes for a rules infringement on the 5th hole of round two on Friday. The two-time major winner was accused of improving his swing path by treading down long grass. The sanction came after DeChambeau revisited the area with rules officials where, amid heated conversation, he appeared to threaten to withdraw from the Open. Shortly after midnight on Friday, DeChambeau confirmed he would tee up in round three.
McIlroy has no sympathy for a player he has jousted with on and off the course in the past. “I was watching it live,” said McIlroy of the incident which caused such controversy.
“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.’ Then when I heard that he was called in by the rules officials, it was pretty obvious for why.
“I think there’s no doubt that he improved the line of his backswing. 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.”
When asked whether he thought DeChambeau’s actions were intentional – the Open organisers insisted they were not – McIlroy added: “I’m not in his mind. But it didn’t look good.”
The bigger picture related to tee times for the third round, which only appeared at around 11pm amid the melee. Marco Penge and Justin Thomas were among the Open competitors who openly bemoaned this situation. McIlroy also regarded it as unacceptable. With his Open status unclear, DeChambeau battered balls on the Royal Birkdale driving range until after dark despite refusing to properly engage with waiting media.
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“Late night for everyone,” McIlroy said. “I think a lot of it’s performative. I think a lot of it is 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.”
Thomas declined media requests after his third round. Penge did take time to expand upon his frustrations. “It was a bit of a joke really,” said the Englishman. “I’m staying at home this week, which is an hour away, and not getting a tee time until 11pm. is not great, really. We could have at least got a heads up for what time the first tee time was going to be. Obviously there was a lot of commotion, so that delayed things.”
DeChambeau did receive support from his agent Max Homa. “I only saw one angle and in my opinion I didn’t agree with the ruling,” Homa said. “I’ve known Bryson for a very long time and he’s an interesting human at times, but I know he would never cheat the game of golf.”
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