CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Rory McIlroy said Wednesday that his silent treatment of Bryson DeChambeau in the final group at the Masters wasn’t personal.
“I don’t know what he was expecting,” McIlroy said Wednesday at the PGA Championship. “We’re trying to win the Masters. I’m not going to try to be his best mate out there.”
DeChambeau raised some eyebrows when, after shooting a final-round 75 alongside McIlroy, he noted that his fellow playing competitor “didn’t talk to me once all day.”
“He wouldn’t talk to me,” DeChambeau added.
That was by design, McIlroy’s mental coach, Bob Rotella later revealed. He wasn’t intentionally icing out DeChambeau specifically but rather trying to focus on himself and maintain some semblance of tunnel vision.
In recent years, DeChambeau has taken an opposite approach, embracing the environment, becoming more animated and trying to connect with fans. But he added that there wasn’t any bad blood between them.
“I can only speak for myself; I can’t speak for Rory. What I can say about myself is that I genuinely care about the game of golf and growing it globally and inspiring a bunch of people and kids to play this great game,” DeChambeau said two weeks ago at the LIV event in South Korea. “It’s my duty, not only as a professional golfer but as a bit of an entertainer, to interact and be authentic as I possibly can with my fans. I think it’s my responsibility to do so. I’ll continue to keep doing that because that’s what I believe in.”
It’s possible that the two superstars could square off again this weekend at the PGA – and there’s unlikely to be any misinterpretations this time around.
“Everyone approaches the game different ways. I was focused on myself and what I needed to do,” McIlroy said. That’s really all that it was. It wasn’t anything against him. It’s just that I felt that’s what I needed to do to try to get the best out of myself that day.”
