Despite the disappointment faced at Royal Birkdale during The Open, Bryson DeChambeau has revealed that he is "moving past" the controversial two-shot penalty that hampered his bid.

The controversy in question was when the 32-year-old got penalized after match officials ruled that he had broken rule 8.1 as he improved the area of his backswing by standing on and flattening some long grass after a video review.

DeChambeau naturally protested the decision and even threatened to leave the tournament, but eventually played through the weekend and carded a third round of 69 before a final day 72.

"There’s moments of adversity in everybody’s life, and I was passionate about what I believed and thought was right. For me, it’s now in a place that it is what it is, and you keep moving through it. You keep moving past it.” DeChambeau said after the opening round of LIV Golf UK.

"Yeah, I made the cut. It was a good fight. I wish I'd have given it more on Saturday and Sunday, it felt like I could have."

"Besides the fifth, being three over on it, and the 11th, that's six shots. That's tied for the lead right there. Two holes and I'm right there for the Claret Jug." He added.

DeChambeau's disappointment is justified, as his tied 14th-place finish was his best performance in a major since he came runner-up to Scottie Scheffler at the 2025 PGA Championship.

However, his attitude following the aftermath is a different discussion, as the American received huge criticism from fans, golf analysts, and indeed, his fellow players, with Rory Mcllory the biggest name to go in on DeChambeau.

Rory Mcllory was Not the Biggest Fan of Bryson DeChambeau's Antics

Safe to say that the locker room is more or less against DeChambeau's attitude, particularly McIlroy, who said he was "keeping the tournament hostage."

"I won't pretend to be up here and defend Bryson. I'm not particularly fond of him," McIlroy said. "I think a lot of it's performative. I think a lot of it's for attention."

DeChambeau should have learned from McIlroy, who completed the career Grand Slam at The Masters in 2025. However, he made things very difficult for himself after missing a four-or five-foot putt on his final hole to win outright.

Following the miss, he went on to face Justin Rose in a sudden-death playoff at Augusta National.

While McIlroy felt he had blown the best chance to win the Masters, his caddie, Harry Diamond, changed his mindset after telling him that he would have taken a playoff at the start of the week.

Meanwhile, World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler was asked about McIlroy's comments ahead of the 3M Open. "I've never been a big fan of personal jabs," Scheffler said.

"I don't think that rivalry is a big thing in golf just because, like I said, my biggest rivalry week in and week out is the golf course."

So, how do you feel about Bryson DeChambeau's comments following the penalty? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by

Joy Bassy

Edited by

Joy Bassy