McIlroy, DeChambeau deliver chirps
Euro's ace responds to rival's banter to add early spice to Ryder Cup week
Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau didn’t talk during the Masters (Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
Ryder Cup week is here and we might as well get started with a bit of verbal jostling. It is one of the aspects that makes this week so unique, as these trivial squabbles often get blown out of proportion or serve as fun fodder but nonetheless can lead to some added tension.
In addition to telling The Guardian’s Ewan Murray that he expected there to be some sort of issue involving fan behavior at Bethpage State Park, where the infamous Black course serves as the stage this week, McIlroy also took a poke at U.S. star Bryson DeChambeau.
The reigning Masters champion was referencing what was mostly a good-natured DeChambeau comment at the “Happy Gilmore 2” premier in July in which he said he’d be “chirping in his ear this time” at the Ryder Cup. DeChambeau had previously griped that the two barely spoke when paired together in the final round at Augusta.
“I think the only way he gets attention is by mentioning other people. That is basically what I think of that,” McIlroy said in the Guardian interview, conducted during the Tour Championship at East Lake last month. “To get attention he will mention me or Scottie [Scheffler] or others.”
The two have seen a building rivalry, one that started undoubtedly with DeChambeau’s move to LIV Golf in 2022 with all the posturing and controversy that came with it.
At the 2024 U.S. Open, McIlroy had a lead that slipped away with two late short missed putts to make bogey, including one on the 72nd hole that allowed DeChambeau to win his second major title with an epic long-bunker par save on the last hole at Pinehurst No. 2.
In April, DeChambeau was in the final group with McIlroy at the Masters, where the Northern Irishman prevailed in a playoff over Justin Rose after DeChambeau fell out of contention.
Afterward, DeChambeau said that McIlroy never spoke to him during the final round.
It would undoubtedly make for a spicy singles pairing on Sunday, although the format doesn’t allow the captains to set that up. It is also possible that they go against each other in the team matches.
Another aspect McIlroy touched on is the possibility for poor fan behavior at Bethpage, a long-time concern given the notorious rowdiness of the New York crowds at U.S. Opens in 2002 and 2009 as well as the 2019 PGA Championship.
McIlroy had a fan removed after excessive abuse in the 2016 Ryder Cup at Hazeline — something he says he has regretted — and two years ago in Rome he got into a heated exchange during and after the Saturday afternoon competition with Joe LaCava, the caddie for Patrick Cantlay.
“I just think when you go into that environment and you are there for five or six days and the crowd are on you for eight hours, so many days in a row … it is inevitable it will get to someone or get to us as a group at some point,” McIlroy said. “We are just going to have to do a really good job of managing that, having each other’s backs and protecting each other.”
The hope is that crowd behavior is a relative non-issue although the nature of the all-day competition with alcohol not included in the $750 daily tickets that sold out. But the spirted and partisan nature of the event suggests that such a thing would not be a surprise.
The teams officially arrive on Monday and captains Keegan Bradley and Luke Donald are set to talk to the media. Practice rounds begin in earnest on Tuesday morning with the competition starting on Friday morning with four opening foursomes matches.