Rory McIlroy Trashes Bryson DeChambeau in Stunning Golf Presser: ‘I’m Not Fond of Him’
· Yahoo Sports
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Rory McIlroy sounded off on fellow golf superstar Bryson DeChambeau following a rules controversy at the 2026 Open Championship.
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In a stunning press conference Saturday, McIlroy ripped DeChambeau over his conduct at golf’s final major championship of the season. The controversy stems from a 2-stroke penalty DeChambeau was assessed during Friday’s second round. DeChambeau was livid after officials deemed he had illegally improved the conditions affecting his swing — giving him a penalty which took him from second place down to fifth. He threatened to quit the tournament and protested his case for hours — to the point where tournament officials were delayed in releasing the starting times for the next round.
McIlroy made clear he believed the ruling was correct.
“I was in the players lounge watching it with a few other players,” McIlroy said. “And as soon as he made the step into the ball, we all sort of looked at each other and were like, ‘That didn’t seem right.’ And then when I heard that he was called in by the rules officials, I think it was pretty obvious for why. And yeah, I mean I think there’s no doubt that he improved the line of his backswing. So…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.”
And then McIlroy, the back-to-back Masters champion, launched a broader attack on two-time U.S. Open champion DeChambeau — accusing him of holding the tournament “hostage.”
“I won’t pretend to be up here and defend Bryson,” McIlroy said. “I’m not particularly fond of him. I think a lot of it’s performative. I think it’s a lot for attention. And yeah, to hold the tournament hostage like that and have all of us, volunteers, players, everyone waiting on him to depart, I didn’t feel like it was a great look.”
Watch above, via ESPN.
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