Bryson DeChambeau mocked rules officials toward the end of his third round at Royal Birkdale following a two-shot penalty at The Open. On Friday night, a furious DeChambeau briefly threatened to pull out of the tournament after he was docked two shots for inadvertently improving his lie on the fifth hole. In a scene that went viral, the American argued angrily with officials over whether he stomped down long grass around his ball.
The incident led Rory McIlroy to accuse his rival of holding the tournament hostage and seeking attention. DeChambeau appeared unfazed by McIlroy's comments or by occasional heckles from crowd members who called him a cheat. Instead, after finding the rough on the 18th hole on Saturday, he acted up to the amusement of the crowd.
According to the Golf Channel, the American brought in a rules official and told him that his ball had moved but he did not touch it. "I was away from it!" DeChambeau insisted, raising his hands and playfully stepping away from the ball as he feigned innocence. In another clip, the LIV Golf star could be seen sticking his arms out in faux shock as he dramatically approached his ball.
Rules controversy at Royal Birkdale
DeChambeau became embroiled in fresh controversy after finishing his third round. He was seen in an animated conversation with R&A chief executive Mark Darbon, with the 32-year-old golfer understood to have issued a bizarre demand to be handed his second-round scorecard. The request was denied.
Earlier on Saturday, McIlroy accused DeChambeau of holding The Open hostage after he waited late into Friday night to decide whether he would pull out in protest at his two-shot penalty. The delay meant the rest of the field did not learn of their official tee times until around 11pm. Englishman Marco Penge described the late announcement as "a joke."
McIlroy said: "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." A social media post by GOLF.com (@GOLF_com) on July 17, 2026, showed video of DeChambeau in a spirited discussion with a rules official on the fifth hole regarding his potential penalty.
McIlroy supports penalty decision
McIlroy, who finished his third round at two-under par heading into the final day, said the decision to hand DeChambeau a two-shot penalty was correct. He stated that he watched the incident live in the players lounge with other golfers, noting that as soon as DeChambeau stepped into the ball, they felt something was not right.
McIlroy added: "Then when I heard that he was called in by the rules officials, I think we all, it was pretty obvious for why. 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."
Elsewhere on the course, Ryan Fox flew to the top of The Open leaderboard after becoming the third player to shoot a record-equalling score.
