The Open Championship just closed out the 2026 major championship season, and somehow one of the most unexpected winners in recent memory, Ryan Fox, hasn’t been the story.
Instead? It’s once again Bryson DeChambeau. DeChambeau was a lightning rod for criticism ahead of The Open when analysts Nick Faldo and Brandel Chamblee had harsh words for his approach. Faldo said he lacked the “strategy” to succeed in links golf, that he hits driver as far as he can and hopes for the best instead of trying to “thread” it down the fairway.
Chamblee had a broader complaint: He believes DeChambeau has spent more time chasing YouTube golf star Grant Horvat than trying to run down the best in the world, Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler. So how did Bryson respond? In the most Bryson way possible.
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He immediately put himself in contention with a strong 3-under 67 first round. Afterward, he said in his media appearance that he had been very “strategic” when playing Royal Birkdale, a clear response to Faldo. Round two, however, was where he really became the center of attention.
After the round was completed, a seeming 4-under 66, rules officials brought DeChambeau back to the fifth hole, where they assessed him a two-stroke penalty for improving the area around his backswing. DeChambeau was furious, and apparently threatened to withdraw from the tournament in protest.
Some players, like Xander Schauffele, came to his defense. Scottie Scheffler also was adamant that the 32-year-old is not a “cheater.”
One player who didn’t come to his defense? Rory McIlroy. McIlroy was clear in his post-round comments that he doesn’t care for DeChambeau and believed he deserved the penalty.
“I won’t pretend to be up here and defend Bryson,” he told reporters during the tournament. “I’m not particularly fond of him. I think a lot of it is 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 said.
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“I think there’s no doubt that he improved the line of his backswing,” he added. “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.”
This marked the latest entry in the budding rivalry between the two big names and big personalities in professional golf. They’re on opposite sides of Ryder Cup battles. DeChambeau was one of the earliest and largest stars to depart for LIV Golf, while McIlroy became a sort of player spokesman defending the PGA Tour. McIlroy has never done a full 18-hole match on YouTube, while DeChambeau’s made his channel into a behemoth, filming rounds with President Donald Trump and many others.
Ahead of this week’s 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities in Minnesota, Scheffler was asked whether he believes the rivalry is good for golf, and gave a typically incisive answer.
“I think golf’s different in a sense of a lot of other sports because my biggest rival week in and week out is the golf course that we’re playing,” he told the media. “I mean, I could never stop somebody from doing anything in golf. I felt like when I played basketball there would always be rivalries in basketball because you’re going to play defense against a person and that is much more personal in a sense like because I’m actively trying to stop…like if you and I were going to go out and play one-on-one, it would turn into a rivalry because I’m actively trying to stop what you’re doing.
“But in golf, we’re always competing against ourselves on the golf course. I’ve never been a big fan of personal jabs. 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.”
There have been a few instances of McIlroy and DeChambeau facing off with a tournament on the line, though they’ve never gone head-to-head in a Ryder Cup. Most of the rivalry seems to be McIlroy disliking Bryson for either his personality or his departure for LIV, and DeChambeau playing into it, because as he’s put it, “rivalries are good” for golf.
Which is what makes the rivalry so fascinating. It’s not competitive, it’s personal. Scheffler and McIlroy have faced off in Ryder Cups, for example, yet there seems to be only mutual respect between the two.
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One thing is certain, though: 2027 will be a fascinating season in the golf world. Between the potential collapse of LIV Golf, the (mostly) iconic venues hosting major championships and yet another Ryder Cup where both are guaranteed selections, this time back in Europe, there’ll be plenty of opportunities for Rory and Bryson to face off.