Southport (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Rory McIlroy said Bryson DeChambeau tried to hold the British Open “hostage” and was begging for attention after the American reacted angrily to being given a two-shot penalty. DeChambeau thought he had climbed to within one shot of the lead with a birdie-birdie finish to his second round on Friday. But with dark descending on the Southport links, the American was handed a two-stroke penalty for “inadvertently improving” his lie as he addressed his second shot at the fifth hole.
DeChambeau appeared to trample down long grass as he addressed his ball for a practice swing. The two-time US Open champion travelled back to the site of the incident with a rules official after completing his round and Sky Sports reported he had even threatened to withdraw from the tournament. DeChambeau did take part in the third round on Saturday.
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“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,” said McIlroy after a third round of 69 to move to two under for the tournament. “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.”
Tournament organisers the R&A stressed they did not believe DeChambeau had deliberately cheated but said “even when the action is accidental,” a penalty is applied. “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’,” added McIlroy. “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’s hopes of adding to his six majors look forlorn as he will start Sunday’s fourth round at least six shots off the clubhouse lead set by New Zealand’s Ryan Fox. “I certainly am not going out tomorrow thinking like I’ve got a great chance to win,” said the Northern Irishman. “I think if I’m three back of Foxy going into tomorrow, I feel like I have a legitimate chance. But I’m three back of that. I probably feel like I’m a little too far behind.”
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