McIlroy accuses DeChambeau of holding Open hostage

ByMatt Gault

BBC Sport NI senior journalist

Rory McIlroy has accused Bryson DeChambeau of holding the Open Championship "hostage" during the dramatic scenes at Royal Birkdale on Friday evening.

DeChambeau was penalised two strokes for "inadvertently improving his lie" before hitting his second shot at the fifth during the second round.

The two-time US Open champion was involved in heated and lengthy discussions with R&A rules officials before the penalty was imposed, dropping him from one off the lead to three back, at five under par for the tournament.

"I think there's no doubt that he improved the line of his backswing," said world number two McIlroy, who was beaten to the 2024 US Open title by DeChambeau.

"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 scenes involving DeChambeau and tournament officials, when they returned to the scene of the infraction after the round, delayed the release of Saturday's tee times.

"[It was a] late night for everyone," added McIlroy.

"I won't pretend to 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.

"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."

DeChambeau looked to have lifted himself to one shot off the lead on Friday - finishing seven under par with a four-under 66 - but was punished after being deemed to have trampled on long grass close to his ball on the fifth hole.

There was doubt about whether he would continue playing at the tournament before the 32-year-old said the decision would "fire" him up in his quest for a first Claret Jug.

When asked if DeChambeau trampled on the grass intentionally, McIlroy said: "I'm not in his mind. But it didn't look good."

McIlroy, who carded a third-round 69 to sit two under, added: "Every shot is on camera. There are a lot of guys that play this week and the shots aren't on camera.

"So you can say that that's unfair, or it might happen more than it does. It's obviously impossible to police everyone, and that's why it is, for the most part, a self-policing game.

"I think when there is obvious evidence like there was last night, then that's a different story."

Earlier on Saturday, R&A chief executive Mark Darbon said the decision to impose the sanction on DeChambeau was "clear-cut".

"It was an unfortunate decision but really clear-cut from a rules perspective," Darbon told BBC Radio 5 Live.

However, he would not be drawn on whether DeChambeau threatened to pull out of the tournament.

"It's fair to say there was some emotion around that and we will keep some of the aspects of that discussion private," Darbon said.

He added: "There was some emotion but I empathise with that. Bryson has played a great round of golf, is in contention at a major championship, he wants to win the golf's original major.

"We were focused on the ruling and making a fair assessment."

Having declined post-round interviews with reporters on Friday night, DeChambeau, who plays on the LIV Golf circuit and has a sizeable following across social media, made his feelings clear about the incident on his X account.

"Obviously disappointed with the ruling. I don't agree with it, but it is what it is. This fires me up. Onto the weekend. Let's get it," he wrote.

He also posted photos on Instagram which had been doctored to show him levitating above the Birkdale rough.

20:24 BST: DeChambeau birdies the 18th to move to seven under, one shot adrift of Australia's Herbert. He is met by rules officials as he leaves the course.

20:52 BST: DeChambeau is driven off to the fifth hole by rules officials to discuss whether he trampled down grass near his ball.

20:55 BST: DeChambeau is involved in an animated discussion with the officials, close to where the incident occurred, and looked extremely frustrated

21:10 BST: He arrives back on the buggy near the media centre, DeChambeau is asked if he is playing in round three on Saturday. He does not answer and simply smiles

21:35 BST: DeChambeau emerges from the cabin and his two-shot penalty is confirmed

22:30 BST: After DeChambeau leaves the range, his agent Brett Falkoff tells reporters the player will "see how he feels" on Saturday before deciding whether to play

00:00 BST: DeChambeau indicates on social media he intends to play on Saturday, when he is due to tee off at 15:30 BST

BBC golf correspondent Iain Carter at Royal Birkdale:

"I think Rory McIlroy was speaking for a lot of pros there.

"All the uncertainty last night delayed the tee times. The whole process was delayed by what Bryson DeChambeau did and the way he behaved and I know a lot of pros that wanted to get to bed but couldn't until they knew."