SOUTHPORT, England -- While Max Homa defended Bryson DeChambeau and other golfers seemed to give him the benefit of the doubt following his two-stroke penalty in the second round of The Open, reigning Masters champion Rory McIlroy didn't mince words when he was asked whether DeChambeau should have been penalized for improving "the area of his intended swing" in tall grass on the fifth hole.
McIlroy watched the incident in question on TV in the players' lounge with a few other golfers when DeChambeau stepped on tall fescue grass around his ball before taking his second shot on the fifth at Royal Birkdale Golf Club.
"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,'" McIlroy said Saturday, after his round of 1-under 69 left him at 2 over after 54 holes. "Then when I heard that he was called in by the rules officials, I think it was pretty obvious for why."
TV replays showed DeChambeau approaching his tee shot in the native area and taking several high steps. It appeared that the tall fescue grass behind his ball lay down as a result.
The R&A's executive director of governance, Grant Moir, said in a statement Friday that the rule "applies even when the action is accidental, as it was in Bryson's case."
DeChambeau wasn't told of the penalty until after he finished what he believed was a round of 4-under 66, which would have put him one stroke behind 36-hole leader Lucas Herbert.
After his round, DeChambeau and R&A officials returned to the native area right of the fifth fairway, where the two-time U.S. Open winner reenacted his swing and passionately argued his case.
DeChambeau returned to the scoring area, and his score on the fifth hole was changed from a bogey 5 to a triple-bogey 7.
"Yeah, I think there's no doubt that he improved the line of his backswing," McIlroy said. "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."
When McIlroy was asked whether he thought DeChambeau knew what he was doing, he said, "Again, I'm not in his mind ... but it didn't look good."
McIlroy said he was also irritated that DeChambeau took so long to argue his case before signing his scorecard. It delayed The R&A from releasing tee times for Saturday's third round.
At one point, it seemed unclear whether DeChambeau would play in the third round after he was assessed the penalty.
"Late night for everyone," McIlroy said. "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."
Homa, speaking to reporters after his 3-under 67 in Saturday's third round, said he didn't agree with The R&A's ruling, which dropped DeChambeau's score from 7 under to 5 under after the second round.
"All I know is 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.
"I just hope that doesn't create a narrative because I don't believe that of him."
Homa said he saw only one angle of the incident in question and didn't think DeChambeau intentionally tried to improve his swing path.
"It's like you would try to call somebody out in junior golf because you could tell they were stomping around the ball," Homa said. "It didn't look like that to me. But that's not up to me. I just don't think that's in his character, so it's a shame I think that's kind of how it's being portrayed to some."
Russell Henley also watched replays of the swing in question and called it a "tough one" for DeChambeau.
"Every shot is so important," Henley said. "It's unfortunate, but I think everybody should be held accountable for the same rules. The issue with that to me is the fact that he's on TV every shot. If I played that hole yesterday, and I did the same thing, maybe they don't penalize me because maybe they don't see me do it. That's the tough part-he's on TV every single shot."
Two-time major champion Xander Schauffele said he hadn't yet spoken to DeChambeau but didn't see anything out of the ordinary when he saw a replay.
"He's just stepping in how you'd normally step in to hit a golf shot," Schauffele said. "I think The R&A said something along the lines of whether it's intentional or not, it's still a penalty. It's a tough spot to be, obviously, when you're in high brush, kind of having to dance around to get to your golf ball is a tricky thing. It's not something we're used to doing that often."
In an interview with BBC Radio on Saturday, R&A CEO Mark Darbon said it was a clear-cut rules decision for the governing body.
"It was an unfortunate decision but really clear-cut from a rules perspective," Darbon said. "So, obviously, our team discuss it. The final decision sits with our chief referee and we have a responsibility to our championship and to the rest of the field.
"And so, irrespective of which player this affected it's the same decision. From a rules perspective, it was clear-cut."