The world No. 2 did not hold back when asked for his thoughts on DeChambeau’s behavior late on Friday, when the American engaged in a long and heated post-round exchange with rules officials as they examined whether he had inadvertently improved his drive on the fifth hole.
SOUTHPORT, England (AP) — Rory McIlroy saved one of his best shots at the British Open on Saturday for Bryson DeChambeau.
The world No. 2 did not hold back when asked for his thoughts on DeChambeau’s behavior late on Friday, when the American engaged in a long and heated post-round exchange with rules officials as they examined whether he had inadvertently improved his drive on the fifth hole.
DeChambeau was penalized two strokes and there were doubts as to whether he would appear on the weekend. The extraordinary late evening scenes also delayed the release of the set times for Saturday’s third round.
“I’m not going to 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 into it. I think a lot of it is performance. I think a lot of it is for attention.”
“Holding the tournament like that,” McIlroy continued, “and having all of us — players, volunteers, everybody — waiting for him to leave, I didn’t feel like it was a great sight.”
McIlroy said he saw the initial incident live with several other players and felt DeChambeau’s actions “didn’t seem right.”
“I think there’s no question that he improved his backhand,” McIlroy said. “Again, it’s like, whether it was careless or intentional, I don’t think it matters. I hope it was careless, but I think the two-stroke penalty was warranted, for sure.”
Other players were more diplomatic when discussing the incident.
“If I was in that position, I’d be very careful about where I’m standing and how I hit the ball and make sure I don’t improve my lie,” said English golfer Marco Penge, who was among the golfers who posted on X late Friday about his frustrations with tee times being released so late. “Yeah, I’d never want anyone to think I was doing that. That’s how I’d 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 on purpose and it’s unfortunate that he was penalized because he was playing extremely well and obviously he’s still playing extremely well,” Schauffele said, “so he’s obviously going to have something to prove these next couple of days. “By STEVE DOUGLAS AP Sports Writer
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