AUGUSTA, Ga. — They say golf is thirsting for a compelling rivalry in the post Tiger Woods-Phil Mickelson era.
Maybe Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau is it.
If it isn’t, this will do just fine until the real McCoy (or McIlroy) comes along, thank you.
Yes, there are other players on the leaderboard going into Sunday’s final round of the Masters, including 2018 winner Patrick Reed, the former U-High golfer who worked his way into a surprising tie for fourth. Sunday at the Masters has seen plenty of players famously charge out of the shadows and put their arms into a green jacket.
But this is also the tournament that perhaps favors the leaders above all. The past eight Masters winners have come from the final group.
Guess who’s last off the tee Sunday afternoon?
Messrs. McIlroy and DeChambeau.
The anticipation couldn’t be sweeter. The contrasts couldn’t be greater.
McIlroy has been carrying the banner for the PGA Tour in golf’s uncivil war with LIV Golf. DeChambeau has been carrying the water for LIV in the majors the past couple of years because, frankly, no one else from that upstart outfit has been as good.
Rory is a family man. He said he whiled away the pre-round hours watching “Zootopia” with his 4-year-old daughter, Poppy.
“Very, very good movie if you haven’t watched it,” McIlroy said earnestly.
DeChambeau was planning to watch a James Bond film Saturday night. Preferably, one with Pierce Brosnan. No word on whether he would be having any cocktails shaken or stirred.
McIlroy said he was planning to stay off his phone and stay in his “own little bubble” during the final round.
DeChambeau, who in addition to being a great golfer has made himself into a viral YouTube sensation, said heck yeah he was planning to be on his phone Saturday night and was looking forward to engaging with the fans as he did Saturday when he stared across the pond at 16 after making a birdie.
“Just wanted to get the patrons going,” DeChambeau said. “I get that energy back, and it’s a cool feeling.”
The two men’s body language couldn’t have been more different after their rounds.
McIlroy — who shot a second straight 6-under-par 66, only the fifth man to do that in the Masters — stared straight ahead while walking from the 18th green to the clubhouse to sign his scorecard, ignoring the fans going berserk for him on either side of the path.
DeChambeau, who shot a 3-under 69 for his third straight round in the 60s, was high-fiving people like mad as he walked the same grassy stretch a few moments later. He may have even announced he was running for Congress. I’m not sure.
To me, it speaks to the places these two men occupy at this moment. In their experience and in their careers.
For the reason why, you only have to look back to the 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2.
DeChambeau bested McIlroy by one stroke to win his second U.S. Open. DeChambeau played brilliantly, but he also benefited enormously when McIlroy botched short par putts of 2½ feet on 16 and 3 feet, 9 inches on 18.
It was validation for DeChambeau, who also won a fan-less U.S. Open at Winged Foot during the pandemic restrictions of September 2020. It was more scar tissue for McIlroy, who since winning the 2014 PGA has had more top 10s in majors (21) than anyone, including four runner-up finishes, but no wins.
Then there is the pressure of knowing what he could do if he wins, something McIlroy mentioned not at all in his post-round interviews. If McIlroy keeps his head and his lead Sunday, he will become just the sixth man and first European to win the career Grand Slam: the Masters, U.S. and British Opens, and the PGA. It’s a hard, rare thing to do. Woods was the last to do it in 2000, and before him Jack Nicklaus in 1966.
If a 35-year-old Woods was leading the Masters by two going into the final round instead of a 35-year-old McIlroy, the almost universal expectation would be that Woods would close the deal. McIlroy hardly feels like that sure of a thing.
As his round erupted — McIlroy started with six straight 3s, going birdie-eagle-birdie-par-birdie-par — fans roared. They also wondered whether he wasn’t also setting himself up for another major meltdown. Like the 2024 U.S. Open. Like the 2011 Masters, when he shot a final-round 80 and fell from a four-stroke lead going into Sunday to a tie for 15th.
A man in the gallery next to the 15th hole, the one McIlroy eagled Saturday with a towering 6-iron to 6 feet, seemed to speak for everyone in the gallery.
“There are a lot of ghosts out there,” he said. “A lot of ghosts.”
The implication was that those ghosts are waiting for McIlroy.
Maybe one of them is named Bryson DeChambeau.
It promises to be a thrilling final round, with a rare rivalry that has a chance to do golf’s fractured world good.
“It’ll be the grandest stage we’ve had in a long time,” DeChambeau said, “and I’m excited for it.”
Isn’t everyone?
