There is no love lost between Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau.
On Saturday, McIlroy blasted the LIV Golf star for his actions around the two-stroke penalty he was handed on Friday night at The Open Championship.
“I won’t pretend to be up here and 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,” McIlroy told reporters.
DeChambeau, after being notified of a potential penalty upon finishing his second round, insisted on returning the the fifth hole — the site of the infraction in question — alongside rules official.
After plenty of time arguing, and more time than usual in scoring, DeChambeau emerged and hit balls on the range until around 10:30 p.m. local.
McIlroy said he agreed with the penalty, which was assessed against DeChambeau for improving his lie.
“I think there’s no doubt that he improved the line of his backswing. 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,” McIlroy said.
DeChambeau could still have the last laugh, however, as he remains in contention at Royal Birkdale while McIlroy sits at 2-under for the tournament, well back of the lead heading into Sunday’s final round.