Rory McIlroy Rips Bryson DeChambeau's 'Performative' Actions After 2026 Open Penalty

Professional golfers, for the most part, don’t like to throw shade at one another. Politeness is ingrained in the sport’s DNA, so when there is controversy, most of them steer clear and offer benign statements. Rory McIlroy is not like other golfers, particularly when it comes to Bryson DeChambeau. 

McIlroy walked into the mixed zone on Saturday minutes after shooting a 67 in the third round of the 2026 Open Championship and made it clear he was happy to answer a few questions about DeChambeau’s Friday evening rules controversy. 

“Yeah, 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.” 

McIlroy did not mince words when asked about the spectacle after the penalty. 

“Yeah, look, I won't pretend to be up here and defend Bryson,” he said. “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.”

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McIlroy conceded that policing the rules can be difficult because not every player appears on camera the way some of the top players do. 

“There's a lot of guys that play this week and the shots aren't on camera,” McIlroy said. “So you can say that that's unfair or whatever, or it might happen more than it does. It's obviously impossible to police everyone, and that's why it is, for the most part, a self-policing game.” 

He did not think there was any doubt about what happened with DeChambeau, however. 

“I think when there is obvious evidence like there was last night, then obviously that's a different story,” he said.