Rory McIlroy Criticizes Bryson DeChambeau's Conduct at The Open
En resumen
Rory McIlroy openly criticized Bryson DeChambeau's "performative" and "attention-seeking" conduct at The Open after DeChambeau received a two-shot penalty for inadvertently improving his swing path, causing delays and frustration among players and officials.
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Por qué importa
Bryson DeChambeau received a two-shot penalty at The Open for inadvertently improving his swing path, leading to a heated exchange with rules officials and delaying tee times.
Rory McIlroy saved one of his best shots at The Open on Saturday for Bryson DeChambeau.
The world number two did not hold back when asked for his thoughts on DeChambeau's conduct on the second round of play, when the American was involved in a lengthy, heated post-round exchange with rules officials as they reviewed whether he had inadvertently improved the path of his swing on the fifth hole.
DeChambeau was penalised two shots and there were doubts over whether he would show up for the weekend. The extraordinary late-evening scenes also delayed the release of the tee times for the third round.
"I won't pretend to be up here and defend Bryson," McIlroy told reporters after shooting a 1-under 69 in the third round.
"I'm not particularly fond of him. I think a lot of it is 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 said he watched the initial incident live with a few other players and felt DeChambeau's actions "didn't seem right".
"I think there's no doubt that he improved the line of his backswing," McIlroy said.
"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."
Other players were more diplomatic when discussing the incident.
"If I was in that position, I'd just be very careful where I'm standing and how I get into the ball and make sure I don't improve my lie," said English player Marco Penge, who was among the golfers to post on X late Friday about his frustrations about the tee times being published so late.
"Yeah, I would never want anyone to think I was doing that. That's how I would deal with it."
Former Open champion Xander Schauffele said DeChambeau could have been given "the benefit of the doubt".
"He said he didn't do it intentionally and it's unfortunate that he got penalised because he was playing incredibly well and obviously he's still playing incredibly well," Schauffele said.
"So he's obviously going to have something to prove these next two days."
DeChambeau currently sits equal-sixth, four shots off the lead.
Preguntas abiertas
- How will DeChambeau respond to McIlroy's comments?
- Will DeChambeau's conduct affect his future interactions with other players?