Open 2026: Rory McIlroy accuses Bryson DeChambeau of holding tournament ‘hostage’

Rory McIlroy has accused Bryson DeChambeau of holding the Open Championship “hostage” during the dramatic scenes at Royal Birkdale on Friday evening.

DeChambeau was penalised two strokes for “inadvertently improving his lie” before hitting his second shot at the fifth during the second round.

The two-time US Open champion was involved in heated and lengthy discussions with R&A rules officials before the penalty was imposed, dropping him from one off the lead to three back, at five under par for the tournament.

“I think there’s no doubt that he improved the line of his backswing,” said world number two McIlroy, who was beaten to the 2024 US Open title by DeChambeau.

“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.”

Asked specifically about the scenes involving DeChambeau and tournament officials when they returned to the scene of the infraction after the round, McIlroy added: “I won’t pretend to 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.

“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.”