Rory McIlroy Reveals How He Made Bryson DeChambeau ‘Invisible’ On Career-Defining Masters Sunday

When Rory McIlroy was paired with Bryson DeChambeau for the final round of The Masters, questions were asked about how the Northern Irishman would cope playing alongside both a fan favorite and the man who had beaten him at the previous year’s US Open.

Following the third round, McIlroy held a two-shot advantage over DeChambeau, but with the career Grand Slam on the line, as well as the chance of his first Major win since 2014, the pressure was well and truly on the leader.

McIlroy went on to claim the Green Jacket, not by beating DeChambeau, who faded, but Justin Rose in a playoff.

Afterwards, the LIV Golfer remarked that his opponent “didn’t talk to me once all day.” Now, McIlroy has revealed that it was all part of the plan.

The five-time Major winner spoke to the Shotgun Start podcast, where he opened up about a day of high drama featuring more than its fair share of agony and ecstasy before he finally got to slip on the Green Jacket for the first time.

He explained that the advice not to speak to DeChambeau had come from his psychologist, Bob Rotella.

He said: “I felt like that was going to be the toughest thing I would have to deal with that day was Bryson himself and just the way we completely, we are polar opposites in terms of how we approach the game.

“So, I felt like he was going to have a portion of the crowd and I was going to have a portion of the crowd and it was having to deal with that a little bit.

“And I said that to Rotella, we always met just by the caddie area there before I went to the range every day, and he said, ‘How are you feeling today?’ And I said, ‘I’m feeling good, I’m feeling good about my stuff.’

“I said to him, the one thing that I’m just uneasy about is just the pairing, and he said, ‘Well, just make him invisible.’ I said, ‘Well, what do you mean?’ He goes, ‘just don’t engage, don’t look at him, just get lost in your own little world.

You’ve got Harry [Diamond, McIlroy’s caddie] beside you, have him be your companion and just get lost in that world.”’ And that’s what I tried to do.”

Even with that advice, McIlroy’s nerves were evident from the start, where he sent his opening tee shot into a fairway bunker before making double bogey, wiping out his advantage.

After the second hole, McIlroy found himself behind as he could only manage a par as his opponent made a birdie.

Successive birdies helped McIlroy regain control before DeChambeau’s challenge faded. Even then, it wasn’t plain sailing for McIlroy, particularly with a double bogey at the par-5 13th after he inexplicably found the water with his third shot.

McIlroy admitted that once the threat of DeChambeau had been dealt with, the biggest obstacle standing between him and a historic victory was himself.

He added: “Yeah, that was the one thing. I felt like that was the biggest impediment between me and winning The Masters, that day, you know. And then once it was apparent that wasn’t going to be the biggest impediment, then I made myself the biggest impediment.”

McIlroy also cited his birdies at the third and fourth, coupled with DeChambeau’s pair of bogeys at the same holes, as a turning point, without which the outcome may have been very different.

He explained: “Both three and four were huge moments. I was walking up the third fairway before Bryson had hit his second shot, one shot behind after starting two ahead. And then I was walking off the fifth tee box three shots ahead. I was like, ‘What just happened?’”

He added: “If I don’t have those two holes after such a rough start, I probably don’t go on to win.”

Despite the ups and downs of the day, McIlroy insisted he wouldn’t change anything about it, adding: “There’s not one thing about that day that I would want back, in terms of I’m happy that it’s over.

“I hope I feel that way on the golf course again because it means I’m playing for something very important, but I don’t know if I ever will feel that way again on the golf course.”