Rory McIlroy accused Bryson DeChambeau of holding The Open hostage, criticizing the American for waiting late into the night before confirming he would play his third round at Royal Birkdale after a two-shot penalty.
DeChambeau had threatened to withdraw during animated arguments with rules officials on the fifth hole, where he was accused of improving his lie by stomping down long grass around his ball. He was handed a two-shot penalty.
DeChambeau's agent, Brett Falkoff, refused to rule out a shock withdrawal as the two-time major winner hit balls on the driving range in the dark. "Let's see if he shows up late tomorrow afternoon, your guess is as good as mine," Falkoff told reporters.
The uncertainty meant the rest of the field did not learn their official tee times until around 11pm. Englishman Marco Penge described the delay as "a joke." DeChambeau eventually posted on social media after midnight to confirm he would play.
McIlroy's criticism
"Late night for everyone," 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," McIlroy added.
The penalty decision
McIlroy, who finished his third round at two-under par with a one-under 69, said the penalty was correct. "I was watching it live," he 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, I think we all - it was pretty obvious for why," McIlroy said. "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."
Asked by Daily Mail Sport whether DeChambeau knew what he was doing, McIlroy said: "I'm not in his mind - but it didn't look good."
McIlroy's 69 left him at two-under for the tournament, seven shots off the lead heading into the final day. DeChambeau dropped to five-under after his penalty but remains within reach of the leaders as his third round resumes on Saturday afternoon.
Scheffler holds back, Homa defends DeChambeau
World number one Scottie Scheffler, who shot a level-par round to reach four-under, struggled to stay tight-lipped on the controversy. "I don't really have a ton to say on it," Scheffler said. "Actually, I do have a ton to say. I haven't decided exactly what I want to say publicly yet. I do have some thoughts."
"I just...I don't really feel like now is the time or place for me to comment," he said. "We're in the middle of a tournament, and I'm focused on what I need to do. Like I said, I have a decent amount of thoughts, but probably nothing that I'm concerned with right now. I just feel like it's not a road I want to go down today."
DeChambeau received loud cheers on the first tee at Birkdale but also faced pockets of abuse from spectators, some of whom called him a "cheat" while others jokingly warned him not to stand too hard on the grass in the rough.
Fellow American Max Homa offered support. "I've known Bryson for a very long time, and he's an interesting human at times, but I know he would never cheat the game of golf," Homa said. "I don't really love how it happened. It's not that the R&A said that he did it intentionally, but that rule as a professional golfer feels like it's written inherently to protect against people trying to improve their lie. So I just hope that doesn't create a narrative because I don't believe that of him."