While some players have towed the line on the two-stroke penalty assessed to Bryson DeChambeau for improving his swing path in the second round of the 2026 Open, Rory McIlroy believes it was the correct decision. Speaking after his third round, the Northern Irishman stated that the penalty was justified and that when DeChambeau stepped to his ball in the fescue on No. 5 on Friday, more than his eyebrows were raised.
“I was watching it live,” McIlroy said. “I was up in the players lounge watching it with a few other players, and as soon as he made the step into the ball, we all sort of looked at each other, and we were like, ‘that didn’t seem right.’
“Then when I heard that he was called in by the rules officials…it was pretty obvious for why. Yeah, I think there’s no doubt that he improved the line of his backswing. 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.”
DeChambeau pleaded his case with R&A rules officials on No. 5 after play was completed. He was visibly frustrated as he aimed to sway their decision on the matter to no avail.
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DeChambeau’s score dropped from 7 under to 5 under with the penalty and pushed him out of the final group for the third round as the two-time U.S. Open champion threatened through his agent to possibly pull out of the tournament. He stayed well into the night on the driving range working through different clubs and offering snacks to media members who remained on the scene.
Ultimately, DeChambeau sent out posts on social media Friday evening confirming that he planned to play this weekend.
“Late night for everyone,” McIlroy said. “Yeah, look, I won’t pretend to be up here and 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.”
Some have opined that situations such as the one related to DeChambeau have occurred in the past, but since every player is not on camera the possibility of some skirting the rule exists. McIlroy has heard those claims but believes DeChambeau’s penalty was cut and dry.
“It’s hard. Every shot is on camera,” McIlroy continued. “There’s a lot of guys that play this week and the shots aren’t on camera. 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. I think when there is obvious evidence like there was last night, then obviously that’s a different story.”