Rory McIlroy Blasts Bryson DeChambeau for Holding Everyone at the British Open ‘Hostage’

Rory McIlroy did not hold back on Bryson DeChambeau. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Moments after finishing his third round at the British Open on Saturday, Rory McIlroy met with the media and didn’t hold back on his thoughts about Bryson DeChambeau and the controversial two-shot penalty he received after the second round.

McIlroy didn’t dance around the topic, instead he went straight in on DeChambeau, saying it was an “obvious” penalty and then he ripped him for keeping everyone involved with the tournament “hostage” for a while on Friday night.

NESBITT: NBC’s Lead Golf Analyst Completely Whiffed on His Take About Bryson DeChambeau’s Controversial Penalty

McIlroy said he was watching the tournament on TV when he saw DeChambeau step into his shot on the par-4 5th hole and he knew right away that something wrong had been committed.

“I was watching it live up in the players lounge 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 were like ‘that didn’t seem right,’” McIlroy said. “And then when I heard he was called in by the rules officials it was pretty obvious for why.”

McIlroy then broke down why he thought it was an easy call by the rules officials.

“I think there’s no doubt that he improved the line of his backswing,” he said. “And again, 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.”

Here are McIlroy’s full comments on DeChambeau:

Here's Rory on the Bryson ruling — said there's no doubt that he improved the line of his backswing and penalty was justified.

Then added: "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… pic.twitter.com/knSptf5Opo

— Patrick McDonald (@pmcdonaldCBS) July 18, 2026

After the penalty became official, DeChambeau had thoughts about quitting the British Open. His agent said a decision might not come until Saturday morning. That delayed the release of the third round tee times, which annoyed a lot of players. DeChambeau then tweeted late Friday night that he would be playing the weekend.

Safe to say, McIlroy hated that whole process:

“Late night for everyone,” McIlory said of the delay caused by DeChambeau. “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 had a thoughtful answer when asked if he believed other players might commit similar penalties in their rounds, but because they’re not on camera as much as DeChambeau, they can get away with it.

“It’s hard, every shot [of DeChambeau’s] is on camera,” McIlory said. “There’s a lot of guys that play this week and their shots aren’t on camera. You can say that’s unfair or whatever or it might happen more than it does but it’s obviously impossible to police everyone and that’s why, for the most part, it’s a self-policing game. But I think when there is obvious evidence like there was last night then obviously that’s a different story.”

McIlroy shot a one-under 69 on Saturday and is currently in a tie for 30th place. DeChambeau is currently at five-under and tied for eighth.

Safe to say Rory and Bryson won’t be sending each other Christmas cards any time soon.

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