Rory McIlroy’s pairing with Bryson DeChambeau in the final round of The Masters inevitably brings to mind memories of last June’s US Open.
At the Pinehurst No.2 Major, even though the two weren’t in the same group on Sunday, it still came down to the pair before McIlroy’s dramatic back-nine collapse opened the door for DeChambeau to claim the title for the second time.
However, the Augusta National rematch is not the first time the two have dueled since that fateful day in North Carolina 10 months ago.
The two also met in Las Vegas in December when they took part in The Showdown - a made-for-television match that pitted the PGA Tour against LIV Golf, with McIlroy teaming up with Scottie Scheffler and DeChambeau playing alongside Brooks Koepka.
In the build-up to the Shadow Creek Golf Club contest, the two engaged in some friendly banter on the range, with McIlroy saying in front of the watching fans: “I’d like to go up against Bryson and try to get him back for what he did to me at the US Open,” which drew the razor-sharp retort from the LIV Golfer: “Well, to be fair, you kinda did it to yourself.”
Rory: “I’d like to get him back for what he did to me at U.S. Open.”Bryson: “To be fair, you kinda did it to yourself.”10/10. pic.twitter.com/DyLZpphYKjDecember 16, 2024
It was all good-humored, of course, with McIlroy taking DeChambeau’s comeback on the chin, although it’s hard to disagree with DeChambeau’s assessment.
During the Major, McIlroy appeared to be cruising with a two-shot lead on the back nine before his challenge unravelled with three bogeys on the final four holes, not helped by two alarming short missed putts.
In the end, McIlroy took his chance of revenge when he and Scheffler comfortably beat their LIV Golf opponents in The Showdown, but for McIlroy, it will still have come as little consolation given his capitulation when on the verge of his first Major title in a decade.
Now, four months on from that largely friendly encounter in Las Vegas, McIlroy has a more meaningful opportunity to inflict revenge on DeChambeau for that painful US Open defeat. Similarly to that occasion, he also has a precious two-shot lead, albeit this time from the start of his round.
If he wins the Green Jacket, it won’t just close the book on his US Open heartbreak, it will also end 11 long years peppered with near misses in Majors since his fourth title in the 2014 PGA Championship, while at the same time propelling him to golfing immortality as just the sixth player to complete a career Grand Slam.
For DeChambeau, victory would hand him his third Major title while also giving him his maiden Green Jacket.
All that means that, even though the two are going head-to-head for the second time since the US Open, unlike their Las Vegas encounter, this time, the stakes couldn't be higher.
