Rory isn’t making too much sense ahead of the Ryder Cup.
PublishedSeptember 21, 2025 4:13 PM EDT•UpdatedSeptember 21, 2025 4:13 PM EDT
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Bryson DeChambeau and Rory McIlroy have been trading jabs for years at this point, and as expected, their back-and-forth has only intensified in the lead-up to next week’s Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black. While the swings at one another haven’t come close to crossing the line of disrespect, McIlroy’s latest swing at the American doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.
Following The Open earlier this summer, DeChambeau offered up some relatively innocent comments about how this year’s Ryder Cup preparations were going to be “no joke” for the U.S. team and that he’d be getting into McIlroy’s “ear a little bit” if the two faced off against one another at Bethpage.
It’s safe to assume DeChambeau’s comment about potentially chirping McIlroy was a call back to their battle at the Masters in April. The two were in the final group together for the final round before McIlroy finally got his hands on the green jacket. DeChambeau made headlines after that Sunday’s final round, explaining that they didn’t talk to one another, which was blown out of the water by some in the media, even though it was a non-story.
Fast-forward to this week, and McIlroy has added another chapter to the saga, claiming that the only time DeChambeau garners attention is if he mentions other players.
“I think the only way he gets attention is by mentioning other people,” McIlroy told The Guardian. “That is basically what I think of that. To get attention, he will mention me or Scottie [Scheffler] or others.”
Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images for The Showdown and Mateo Villalba/Getty Images
We don’t have the context of the conversation nor the question McIlroy was asked by The Guardian that prompted this response. Therefore, we can only react to the quote itself, and at face value, it’s just incredibly strange.
You can question some of the moves we’ve seen out of DeChambeau over the years, but the guy is a savant at garnering attention and moving the needle.
With his social media presence, DeChambeau is arguably the most famous golfer on the planet, not named Tiger Woods. He’s also won two major championships since 2020, which is one more than McIlroy has won since 2014.
Bryson DeChambeau Leaves Rory McIlroy Speechless With Vicious Joke About His U.S. Open Collapse
DeChambeau’s most recent major championship victory, the 2024 U.S. Open, was a tournament that McIlroy had a firm grasp on until he produced one of the biggest chokes in the modern era. McIlroy stood on the 15th tee at 8-under par at Pinehurst on that final day of the U.S. Open, yet DeChambeau walked off the 18th green as a winner at 6-under.
Whether you’re Team Bryson, Team Rory, or couldn’t possibly care less about the drama between the two, one thing is for certain, and that’s that we need to see these two do battle in a singles match at the Ryder Cup.
