One McIlroy sentence re-ignited his feud with Bryson. A new score must now be settled

‘WHAT WAS HE EXPECTING?’: McIlroy fires back in perfect response to Bryson’s Masters moan

McIlroy eventually prevailed in a Sunday thrillride while DeChambeau — who had done a fine job of compensating for his poor iron play across three rounds — was ultimately found out.

DeChambeau’s Sunday fadeout was not a surprise to those familiar with his ball-striking issues throughout the tournament.

What did drop jaws, however, was DeChambeau using his post-play interview to make the world aware that McIlroy did not talk to him during the final round, and that he didn’t like it.

“Didn’t talk to me once all day,” an irritated DeChambeau told reporters after the round. “He wouldn’t talk to me.

“He was just like — just being focused, I guess. It’s not me, though.”

Just like that, speculation of a hidden feud between DeChambeau and McIlroy had erupted.

Some pointed to a December incident between the pair — where DeChambeau mercilessly sledged McIlroy in public over his choke at the 2024 US Open, which the American won — as its origin. The Telegraph reported that it was understood the incident had stuck with McIlroy, who believed it to be “cruel and unnecessary”.

Others pointed to the polarity of the pair as the reason for silencegate.

DeChambeau jumped at the chance to sign with LIV Golf. McIlroy publicly detested the Saudi breakaway. DeChambeau moonlights as a YouTube content creator. McIlroy wants nothing to do with YouTube golf. DeChambeau likes to interact with fellow players and fans mid-round. McIlroy does not.

The list is almost endless.

Five weeks later and we are still no clearer on whether there is any genuine animosity between the pair.

It’s telling, however, that when given the platform to extinguish the flames of a feud on the eve of the PGA Championship, McIlroy instead fanned them.

“I don’t know what he was expecting,” a bemused McIlroy responded when asked about DeChambeau’s swipe.

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“We’re trying to win the Masters. I’m not going to try to be his best mate out there.

“I was focused on myself and what I needed to do. That’s really all that it was. It wasn’t anything against him. That’s what I needed to do get the best out of myself that day.”

Whether it’s based on the whispers, general sour vibes, or otherwise, the common view among PGA Tour reporters is that “there is a little something there between these two”, as Golf Digest writer Christopher Powers said.

We can’t know for sure, but no one is about to argue that these two will be sharing a beer — or protein shake — together any time soon.

While the bad blood cannot be confirmed beyond reasonable doubt, we can be certain of how much each golfer has detested losing to each other.

DeChambeau’s reaction to defeat — subconscious or not — was to try and diminish the public’s estimation of McIlroy by painting him as a cold snob, while he was the man of the people.

It was a move that many saw straight through.

Author Alan Shipnuck at the time described it as “weak”, while The Loop’s Alex Myers said: “He should’ve known better. I think he shouldn’t have even said it.”

This week, 2002 PGA Championship winner Rich Beem said on the Sky Sports Golf podcast: “I kinda thought that was a little bit bizarre. I don’t know why he expected (that).

“It sounded to me he fully expected to get a full on conversation with Rory over the last 18 holes and that was never going to happen. I barely remember talking to Justin Leonard in the last round of the PGA and that’s just because I was absolutely nervous.”

This, however, should not be seen as taking sides, for McIlroy was arguably guilty of an even saltier response to losing a major last year.

After missing two short putts late in the fourth round, McIlroy could only watch in horror at Pinehurst as DeChambeau snatched the US Open from underneath his nose.

McIlroy’s reaction was to instantly bundle his clubs in the boot of his sponsor car and leave.

He did not speak to reporters.

He certainly didn’t speak to DeChambeau.

If anyone could sympathise with DeChambeau’s pain in the aftermath of the Masters, it’s McIlroy, who spent 16 years trying to win the green jacket, and nearly 11 attempting to go from his fourth major to his fifth.

Even so, you might wonder how possible it was to feel those pangs of sympathy while sipping champagne, parading the green jacket on The Tonight Show, and completing a new Wentworth mansion.

HOW WILL BRYSON BOUNCEBACK?

But the honeymoon is over. Ring that bell once more. It’s time to dance.

The scene is set for another McIlroy vs DeChambeau thriller with the latter using his post-Masters hurt to elevate his game, as evidenced by his win at LIV Golf’s event in Korea.

Meanwhile, Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee believes Quail Hollow, where the game’s best drivers typically excel, suits the likes of DeChambeau.

“Around here, on this golf course, he could be Rory-in-waiting,” Chamblee said.

He added: “I think it’s a contest between who is the best driver of the golf ball. Is it Rory? Or is it Bryson DeChambeau?

“And unlike Augusta National, which is a bad place for Bryson with his irons, this place is better.

“He’s played really good golf when he’s played around here. And I really think, again, it sets up for a great Rory-Bryson back-end-forth here.”

Strengthening DeChambeau’s credentials this week was a major signal of intent this month, when he won in Korea to buck a worrying trend that had developed through early 2025.

DeChambeau led by 36 holes in Miami and Mexico, but lost to Marc Leishman and Joaquin Niemann respectively, while his Masters Sunday against McIlroy was poor. He signed for a three-over 75, and a tie for fifth.

Had he failed to convert again in Korea, we would be viewing his PGA Championship chances through a dramatically different lens. But instead, despite some clear tension across the front nine, DeChambeau exploded on the back to win by two shots over Charles Howell III.

When he went clear by two strokes on No.17, he erupted in celebration. Given the comparatively muted environment around him — LIV Golf Korea is hardly Masters Sunday, sorry — it said everything you needed to know about how badly he needed the monkey off his back.

It’s a feeling of relief McIlroy shares, too, albeit in a much more profound way. For more than a decade did the golf world debate a career grand slam for the Northern Irishman, and when — if(?) — he’d get over the line.

With the debate over, McIlroy has never felt so weightless. That’s before noting the fact that he’s won at Quail Hollow four times already.

It’s therefore little wonder that in speaking before the tournament, DeChambeau was clear on who his main competition is.

“Rory is a great driver of the golf ball and his iron play is great, too. I think it’s a golf course that sets up for his shot shapes pretty well,” DeChambeau said, adding: “I think it sets up well for mine, too.

“We’ll see. Maybe I do well, maybe I don’t. But I’m certainly going to give it my all, and I know Rory is.

“Hopefully we can have another go at it again like the Masters.”

For all of McIlroy’s success at Quail Hollow, DeChambeau has enjoyed visiting the North Carolinan course, too.

In two tournaments at the venue, he finished inside the top 10 on both occasions. And while his driving is an obvious weapon, it’s his putting that makes him an even greater threat. In those two tournaments, he was the fourth and second-best putter of the week.

“Nobody putts here better than him,” Chamblee noted. “Nobody.”

The facts don’t lie.

But there’s more to it than just the monster drives and the clinical touch on the greens.

What should worry McIlroy is that DeChambeau plays his best golf when he’s light. And, despite his Masters pain, he’s looking relatively weightless.

This week, he described how he feels “really comfortable” at Quail Hollow, while reporters have noted how much fan love he’s been soaking up on the North Carolinan grounds — something which he feeds off.

Golf Channel reporter Kira Dixon detailed a scene on Tuesday in which DeChambeau, despite already working harder than anyone does on the range, still spent half-an-hour signing autographs for fans.

Dixon said that when asked about why he spent so much time doing it, DeChambeau replied: “I just feel a call to do it. It’s something that energises me.

“If a kid comes over to me and maybe he got inspired from that one interaction, that’s something that I can do for somebody else and that’s something that I wanna be able to do with the game of golf.”

Beem said DeChambeau’s “knack” for embracing fans is a big part of what makes him tick.

“He’s engaging, he seems more relaxed and comfortable. When people question him … he’s just accepting of so much more. He’s really endeared himself to the fans,” Beem said.

“He’s turned a corner with so many things, not just with his game but his persona. I think the fans love him and he feeds off of that and I think that’s great for him. I think that’s what motivates him.”

For all the good feeling, and his promising trend, a glaring concern around DeChambeau remains though.

His iron-play lingers as an Achilles heel. DeChambeau hit less than 60 per cent of greens in regulation at Augusta, which is a stat made to look far worse by the fact that he was playing from the fairway 78.57 per cent (16th best) of the time.

For comparison, McIlroy hit just 62.5 per cent of fairways across the tournament, but was on the green in regulation 65.28 per cent of the time.

No wonder that before the final round of the Masters, DeChambeau bashed balls on the range well into the night, desperate to find the missing piece.

The piece was never found.

DeChambeau has since conceded that a player’s “whole game has to be on” to win a major, which is why he’s working harder than ever to improve his iron play.

The 31-year-old is regularly on the range early, he squeezes in a gym workout, plays a practice round, then is back on the range until so late that, on occasion, he shuts it down himself.

The regime is showing some promising signs on the evidence of Korea, where DeChambeau’s ball-striking had notably improved.

“My irons were really good in Korea. I feel like it’s moving in the right direction,” DeChambeau said.

The proof will be in the pudding come Monday morning.

The other question around potential DeChambeau weakness is whether in trying to fix one problem he’s creating another.

This question was posed by European great Paul McGinley who expressed doubts around how beneficial the star’s intense training methods are.

“It’s highly unusual to see this amount of energy being expended and still being fresh when it comes to Sunday,” he said on the Golf Channel. “And we’ve seen him falter a few times.

“I would have a question on the expending of energy that he has in these tournament weeks.

“I know he is a freak of nature and know he’s different in a lot of ways … but he’s a human being at the end of the day…

“Is he getting the balance right between focusing on his golf, getting his golf in the right place, but also leaving room mentally to be really fresh when he gets on the golf course?”

Whether this is a valid concern in the case of golf machine DeChambeau or not, his biggest threat is not himself, but a burden-free McIlroy.

You just feel that, with McIlroy freed from doubt and pain, any road towards winning the PGA Championship goes past him at some point.

The potential for a new era of McIlroy dominance is simply too big to ignore.

But DeChambeau poses his own undeniable threat. With all pieces together, he stands as McIlroy’s kryptonite, just like he did at last year’s US Open.

It’s time to find out whether he puts them in place again, or if McIlroy sends him to the canvass once more.