SOUTHPORT, England — Rory McIlroy was in the players’ lounge Friday afternoon at Royal Birkdale when Bryson DeChambeau made his way into the hay right of Royal Birkdale’s fifth hole.
“I was watching it live. 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,” McIlroy said Saturday following a third-round 69 at The Open.
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It would take the rest of the golf world a few hours to catch up to McIlroy and Co., but when the R&A finally ruled that DeChambeau had violated Rule 8.1 for “inadvertently improving the area of his intended back swing” for his second shot on No. 5, the fallout was swift and sweeping.
Like most things involving DeChambeau, the two-stroke penalty — which he challenged for nearly two hours — was polarizing, with players and fans embracing opposing views. But for McIlroy, the ruling was straightforward.
“Yeah, look, 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,” McIlroy said. “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 went on to explain that “there’s no doubt” DeChambeau improved the line of his backswing, whether he intended to or not. “Whether it was careless or whether it was intentional, I don’t think it matters,” McIlroy said.
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“Hopefully it was careless, but I think the two-shot penalty was justified for sure.”
Max Homa had a different take.
“I only saw one angle, and in my opinion I didn’t agree with the ruling. I know there’s another angle, side on, it’s always hard to tell if it improves anything,” Homa said Saturday. “All I know is 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. I don’t really love how it happened.
“It’s not that the R&A said that he did it intentionally, but that rule as a professional golfer feels like it’s written inherently to protect against people trying to improve their lie. I just hope that doesn’t create a narrative because I don’t believe that of him.”
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The R&A was clear that they didn’t think DeChambeau improved his lie “intentionally.” The two-shot penalty turned his second-round 66 into a 68 and he began the final round three shots off the lead.
The 154th Open – Day Three
The Open 2026, live updates: Leaderboard, scores, highlights, news from Round 3
Follow the third round of the 154th Open at Royal Birkdale.
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