The best movie franchises often tell their stories across a trilogy.
The traditional narrative structure of a beginning, middle and end completes character arcs and leaves fans satisfied.
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That common trend is why golf fans feel like a third chapter is coming to the sport’s most captivating rivalry – Rory McIlroy versus Bryson DeChambeau.
The bad blood between the pair is very real.
It may have simmered in the background since their last meeting at September’s Ryder Cup, but the flame that is their rivalry is raging after McIlroy poured fuel all over it.
In the lead up to his green jacket defence, McIlroy took fans inside the ropes of last year’s unforgettable final round in a documentary about his Masters triumph.
There was one key moment with DeChambeau on the ninth green that raised eyebrows.
The LIV Golf star made headlines post-round by complaining about McIlroy giving him the cold shoulder and not speaking to him all day.
The documentary proved that allegation to not be entirely true as McIlroy provided insight into a dispute between the pair that turned out to be “a really big moment” on the path to victory.
The Northern Irishman banished his Augusta demons later that day with a thrilling birdie at the first playoff hole to defeat Ryder Cup teammate Justin Rose and become the sixth ever male golfer to complete the career grand slam.
But McIlroy’s historic achievement and his tussle with Rose were almost subplots on that day.
For it was McIlroy’s clash with DeChambeau in the final group that was billed as a heavyweight bout not to be missed.
The pair already shared quite the history of animosity given it was the first time they had played together on the weekend of a major.
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In 2024, DeChambeau won a second US Open title after McIlroy spectacularly missed multiple short putts on the back nine to surrender his lead.
The American later publicly taunted his rival for choking and it was reported that DeChambeau’s behaviour stuck with McIlroy, who deemed it “cruel and unnecessary”.
If a movie was made about McIlroy’s Masters victory, DeChambeau’s dig would serve as a vital scene to establish the rivalry and the latter’s role as villain.
But their war of words had gone on indirectly for several years in the lead-up.
From either side of the wall that divides the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, McIlroy and DeChambeau served as mouthpieces for the respective organisations they headline.
They have been less vocal in recent times with McIlroy growing tired of being the one to fight the fight all the time, while DeChambeau is allegedly disillusioned with aspects of LIV and could complete a bombshell defection when his contract expires at year’s end.
Regardless, the reputations harnessed during the times of peak hostility stuck.
That is why their meetings represent so much more than a clash of two of the sport’s biggest names.
It is tradition versus disruption.
It is the brash American versus the respectful European.
It is a parent’s favourite player, who they watch on television every weekend, versus a child’s favourite player, whose YouTube, TikTok and Instagram content, they consume all day every day.
The list could go on because in so many ways McIlroy and DeChambeau are opposites.
It is what makes them so fascinating, and the rivalry very real.
“Do I respect him as an individual? 100 per cent. Do I want to beat him every time I see him? Absolutely. There’s no question about it,” DeChambeau told reporters during his pre-tournament press conference at Augusta National.
“That’s what’s so brilliant about the game of golf is that juxtaposition, having that sportsmanlike respect and then wanting to just absolutely beat the living you know what out of him.
“It’s one of those things. Like I got him at Pinehurst (at the 2024 US Open). He got me here and I hope there’s more of those to come because it’s great for the game.
“It’s great if we can continue to have a rivalry. I don’t see any problem with that. If anything, it kind of helps create more buzz around the game of golf.”
‘I’m not trying to be his best mate’ | 00:33
‘THIS ISN’T SOME GAME’
McIlroy revealed that their spat on the ninth green was about etiquette.
It played perfectly into the stereotypes of both men.
McIlroy led by three as both he and DeChambeau fired darts into the elevated putting surface to give themselves a good look at birdie.
One player draining their chance and the other missing could be monumental.
So, when they reached the green and saw that their putts were of similar distance, a standoff ensued.
“I thought it very clearly was my putt. I thought his ball was slightly closer than mine,” McIlroy recalled.
“We sort of look at each other, and I’m like, ‘Well I think it’s me to go.’ And he’s like, ‘Well I think it’s me to go.’”
Both players were desperate to grab the psychological advantage of putting first and potentially landing a significant blow.
“It’s a very gamesmanship-y, match-play thing. Really, both of us want to putt first,” McIlroy said.
“Because if you can hole that putt before your opponent, it puts pressure on them.”
Despite the magnitude of the occasion, DeChambeau presented a solution straight out of one of his YouTube videos. Or perhaps even a friendly weekend round between friends.
“He goes, ‘Well why don’t we just throw a tee up for it to see who goes first?’” McIlroy recalled.
“And I’m like, ‘No.’ This is the final round of the Masters. This isn’t some game on a Tuesday afternoon somewhere. I’m like, ‘No.’”
McIlroy continued: “So I said, ‘There’s a ref… why don’t we get him up to come and measure?’ And he said, ‘No, no. It’s fine. You can go anyway. I don’t care.’ And I just felt like that was a really big moment.”
It did turn out to be a really big moment.
McIlroy stepped up and drained his birdie putt.
DeChambeau missed in reply.
EVERY shot from Rory McIlroy’s back nine | 15:11
McIlroy boasted a four-shot lead heading into the back nine as a result.
That proved critical as he dropped four shots from holes 11 to 14 before steadying with birdies at 15 and 17.
A bogey at the last put him in the playoff with Rose, while DeChambeau never recovered from the momentum shift on the ninth green.
He lost four shots on the back nine and eventually finished tied for fifth after a final round 75.
McIlroy knows the importance of that exchange on the ninth and it sets the scene for future clashes.
“I wasn’t going to wilt in that situation. I was just going to stand firm,” he said.
“I was proud of myself for holding my ground.”
Fun and games on Masters Eve | 02:46
LIKE TIGER AND PHIL
Like any sport, golf has a proud history of rivalries between its biggest stars.
It enriches the narrative of the majors.
The Masters has more examples of bitter battles than arguably any other tournament.
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus jostled for green jackets, boasting ten between them, and public affection.
Greg Norman’s clash with himself, and Nick Faldo, in 1996 led to the most spectacular collapse in Masters history.
In 2005, Vijay Singh and Phil Mickelson had a heated clash in the locker room over the length of Mickelson’s spikes after Singh noticed marks the defending champion left behind.
During the 2000s, it was Mickelson’s rivalry with Tiger Woods that was the talk of the sport, however.
That is the feud that Fox Golf expert analyst Paul Gow believes best resembles McIlroy and DeChambeau’s modern-day rivalry.
“I love it. I think it is great for golf. Golf can be stale and boring and that is one thing that LIV has brought along, some friction between golfers,” Gow said.
“We are all very polite to each other all the time and we know how difficult the game can be.
“It is no different, for mine, than what happened with Tiger and Phil. They didn’t get along.
“They are not the best of mates. There is rivalry in all sports, from tennis to cricket, you name it, it is in every sport. These two, it is a good rivalry. They are very good and at the top of their game.
“Bryson has just won a couple of tournaments on the LIV Tour. McIlroy is the defending champion, obviously a spokesman of the game as well, so I think it is fantastic.
“And what better place for it to all come to a head, Augusta. If you ask players what the major they like to win if they are going to win a major, 90 per cent say Augusta. They want to win the Masters. What a place for this to play out.”
Bryson salty? ‘Didn’t talk to me once’ | 00:20
WHO IS BETTER PLACED TO WIN?
DeChambeau’s run into this year’s Masters is eerily similar to McIlroy’s 12 months ago.
The American has been on a tear in the early stages of LIV’s globetrotting season.
He has won in his last two starts in South Africa and Singapore, while he came in a tie for third in Adelaide.
Albeit from a bigger sample size, last year McIlroy had two wins to his name – at The Players and the Pebble Beach Pro-Am – that suggested the stars were aligning ahead of Augusta.
They could be doing the same for DeChambeau, in what would be a victory of great significance.
No LIV player has won The Masters before — Jon Rahm earned his green jacket and jumped ship later that year.
A LIV champion at the most exclusive club in the world would offer the sort of legitimacy the Saudi-backed circuit has always been chasing.
Personally, it would also be massive for DeChambeau given his complicated history with Augusta National.
Before the 2020 Masters, he made bold comment that his immense power and distances means the famous course is a “par 67” for him.
DeChambeau admitted last year that he regrets what he said.
It is clear to see why as an opening round 65 two years ago is the only time he has broken 67 at Augusta since uttering those remarks.
“It’s a lot of learning,” DeChambeau said. “This place every year seems like it changes just fractionally, just enough to keep ahead of us players that are trying to learn the golf course. So there’s always something new that we’re trying to figure out.
“It’s really cool to see the golf course move and adapt and for us to have to attack in unique and different ways.
“Over the past couple years, it’s really come down to the equipment that I have as well as a lot more patience. Since I have gratitude just being here, no matter if I’m contending or trying to make the cut or whatever it is, it just really is such an honor for me to get after this golf course and try to learn more.”
For a golfer who is regarded as a scientist for how intricately he analyses and crafts his swing, DeChambeau needs to find a solution to banishing his own Masters mental demons.
The 32-year-old seems to have figured out the course with tied fifth and tied sixth finishes in the last two years after a previous best result of tied 21st when he was an amateur a decade ago.
But DeChambeau will be stung by surrendering the lead in the final round last year and after the halfway point in 2024.
“It was a great lesson,” he said. “Being tied for the lead and having the lead in that last group gave me a lot of perspective on it. Then losing it and having things not go my way as they finished out and Rory completed the Grand Slam. It was really cool to see in person.
“But as I reflect back on it, the one thing I can take from it is that I can put myself in those positions. The more I put myself in those positions, the better opportunities I’m going to have to win.
“It’s just been a gradual learning process. You never know what this week may bring, but I certainly hope to give it my all and put myself back in that position, because I want to feel it again.”
McIlroy, on the other hand, has had a disrupted start to the year with a back issue.
He has still managed a runner-up finish at The Genesis Invitational and a top three in Dubai to gain some confidence.
More of his belief will come from the freedom of the monkey jumping off his back last year, however.
McIlroy admitted in his pre-tournament press conference that in the months following breaking his Augusta hoodoo last year that he struggled for motivation.
But as time as past, he has realised that he has more to accomplish.
“The story as it relates to me is, ‘What do I do from now onwards? What motivates me? What gets me going? What do I still want to achieve in the game?’ That’s the story,” McIlroy said.
“There’s still a lot that I want to do. You think every time you achieve something or have success that you’ll be happy, but then, the goalposts move, and they just keep nudging a little but further and further out of reach.
“If you can just really find enjoyment in the journey, that’s the big thing.
“I felt like the career grand slam was my destination, and then I got there, and I realized it wasn’t the destination.”
He later added with a laugh: “For the past 17 years, I could not wait for the tournament to start. This year, I couldn’t care if the tournament never started.
“That’s sort of the difference. It’s completely different. I feel so much more relaxed. I know that I’m going to be coming back here for a lot of years, going to enjoy the perks that the champions get here. Doesn’t make me any less motivated to play well and try to win the tournament but just more relaxed about it all.”
The Masters: Full Australian preview | 07:56
Both McIlroy and DeChambeau have strong reasons to believe they can contend again this week.
There are other statistics that count against them.
For McIlroy, no one has gone back-to-back since Tiger Woods did so in 2001 and 2002.
For DeChambeau, the last seven green jacket winners have all boasted an under par scoring average at Augusta National.
But all of those statistics go out the window if the pair meet again on the weekend.
“It is an interesting one with Bryson, because I have been watching his whole career at Augusta. He has evolved his game a lot but how much has he evolved it to stop it spinning too much, because that is his greatest problem,” Gow said.
“He has so much speed. Is he capable of taking his foot off the accelerator to minimise that spin? Whereas Mcllroy is so good at controlling his spin, controlling the flight, the height of the ball in flight.
“But McIlroy fell over the line last year. He capitulated there for a while, then came back, and it was an emotional rollercoaster. He is coming off a injury and he has been home sorting that out.
“Is he ready to win at Augusta again? We will find out in the first couple of days.
“But I love the rivalry between the two. If they niggle at each other, that is fantastic.”
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