Tranlate this title Rory McIlroy criticizes Bryson DeChambeau after controversial The Open incident in spanish

Bryson DeChambeau, known for creating dramatic moments on the golf course, has attracted attention this time for an unusual reason.

The 33-year-old competed at Royal Birkdale, where he was handed a two-stroke penalty for a rules violation. The American golfer was found to have stepped on and flattened the tall grass behind his ball in the rough on the right side of the fairway on the fifth hole.

The experienced golfer sparked a wave of reactions after the incident, and in an interview with the media he suggested that he might skip the third round. However, he ultimately decided to compete, further intensifying the controversy surrounding the situation.

Among the important figures who reacted was Rory McIlroy, who pointed out that he watched this moment in the players’ room and that he had no doubt that Bryson had indeed broken the applicable rules.

The Northern Irish golfer openly said that he is not a big fan of Bryson DeChambeau, stressing that the American often likes to attract attention in different ways.

“I was watching it live. 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,“ he said.

“Then when I heard that he was called in by the rules officials, I think we all; 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.

Late night for everyone. 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.“

Shane Lowry reacts

However, Rory McIlroy is not the only one who has shared his opinion on this situation. Shane Lowry, a famous Irish golfer, has also expressed his opinion on the controversial moment.

Shane Lowry stressed that DeChambeau had improved the position of his ball, which was a violation of the rules of golf. The Irish golfer believes that the situation was unfortunate for the American, but that the rules must be respected regardless of the circumstances.

Marco Penge was another European player who offered his perspective on the event. While he felt that perhaps he should not comment too much, he acknowledged that television footage leaves room for different opinions. He particularly emphasized that the course was extremely dry, which made it easy to make an unintentional mistake. 

He added that he himself had been in similar situations in the semi-rough during the first day, but avoided contact with the grass because he knew how easily the club could slip and cause a problem. In the end, he decided to let others make the final judgment on DeChambeau’s move.

How did Bryson finish the third round?

Bryson DeChambeau finished the third round at The Open Championship in 2026 at 1-under par (69 strokes) for the day.

This score placed him at 6-under par overall (204 shots) for the tournament, ending the third day tied for sixth in the standings. He is four shots behind leader Sam Burns before the final round.

The course of his third round was marked by turbulence at the beginning, as he made a bogey right at the start with a rather uncertain play with iron clubs. However, he managed to get back into the game when he hit an outstanding shot from about 10 meters on the sixth hole for birdie.

Under pressure, he managed to stabilize the game, saving a par on the 14th hole after a bad entry into the bunker, and then made a birdie on the 16th hole (par 3), thus rejoining the fight for the very top.

The last round of the American golfer will be under a big magnifying glass of the public, and if he manages to achieve a top result and possibly win the title in this tournament, it would be a sensational story and one of the most interesting moments in the world of golf. However, DeChambeau has an extremely difficult task ahead of him, which is why he will need maximum focus in the final round to try to surprise the competition and achieve great success.