Step aside Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson – Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau are done pretending they like each other

Rory McIlroy tried to make Bryson DeChambeau invisible during his triumphant final round of the 2025 Masters.

And despite all of his successes, he failed in that regard.

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Even all these months later, the American appears to be living in McIlroy’s head rent-free.

Amazon Prime recently released a documentary designed to celebrate the day McIlroy finally completed the career grand slam.

It featured new insights from the Northern Irishman and his parents about how the 11-year wait manifested itself in one rollercoaster afternoon at Augusta.

But while it does document how McIlroy rose above Masters demons, self-doubt, and a decade of golfing adversity, it instead becomes one seemingly-deliberate reminder that he beat DeChambeau that day.

And ahead of the 2026 Masters, which begins on Thursday, the American is planning to return the favour.

“It’s great if we can continue to have a rivalry. I don’t see any problem with that,” said DeChambeau on Tuesday.

“If anything, it kind of helps create more buzz around the game of golf. Do I respect him as an individual? One hundred per cent.

“Do I want to beat him every time I see him? Absolutely. There’s no question about it.

“But I think 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, he got me here, and I hope there’s more of those to come because it’s great for the game.”

There will be no Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson at Augusta this year for the first time since 1994 after decades of Masters rivalry.

And since McIlroy has been liberated, it means golf fans are on the hunt for a new storyline.

Look no further, because this rivalry could be about to define a generation.

How did we get here?

There was always an obvious professional rivalry between the two.

DeChambeau is the poster boy for LIV Golf, with McIlroy the pride and joy of the PGA Tour.

It was DeChambeau who capitalised to win from the group behind when McIlroy faltered at the 2024 US Open.

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McIlroy would later release a gracious statement, congratulating DeChambeau and saying he is ‘exactly what professional golf needs right now’.

But months later, McIlroy did not seem too impressed when DeChambeau said he ‘did it to himself’ at an exhibition event.

It is also worth remembering that DeChambeau is golf’s biggest internet superstar, while McIlroy has been publicly dismissive of the YouTube golf scene.

They are opposed in so many ways – and when it was DeChambeau who stood in the way of McIlroy and an elusive Masters crown last year – there were fears for Rory.

On a day when emotions needed to be controlled, here was a man who quite clearly knows how to get under his skin.

After dropping two shots at the first and failing to birdie the reachable par-five second, McIlroy’s two-shot lead was immediately cancelled out and DeChambeau hit the front.

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But by the time both golfers arrived on the back nine, McIlroy had actually increased his overnight lead – and the one-on-one fight for the Green Jacket that many predicted never truly materialised.

Nevertheless, McIlroy admitted in the documentary that despite all of the scar tissue, playing alongside the loud YouTube phenomenon was his biggest challenge to overcome.

He reported a conscious effort to ignore DeChambeau all day, something the American would later bring up in his post-round interview.

But McIlroy clearly was paying attention – because he recounted their whole dynamic in great detail.

And for all its additional value, the most fascinating part of the documentary is the story McIlroy tells of his interaction with DeChambeau on the ninth green.

“I thought it was very clearly my putt,” McIlroy began.

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“I thought his ball was slightly closer than mine. We sort of look at each other and I’m like: ‘Well, I think it’s me to go’ And he was like: ‘Well, I think it’s me to go.’

“It’s a very gamesmanship matchplay thing. Really, both of us want to putt first because if you can hole that putt before your opponent, it puts pressure on them.

“He goes ‘Well, why don’t you just throw a tee up for it to see who goes first’ 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’… I wasn’t going to wilt in that situation, I was just going to stand firm.

“So I said there’s a ref right there, 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 that that was a really big moment.

“I was proud of myself for holding my ground.”

McIlroy has made no attempt to hide his cold attitude towards DeChambeau that day, questioning why his rival appeared so casual on multiple occasions.

“I don’t know what he was expecting,” he said when asked about the ‘silent treatment’ last year.

“We’re trying to win the Masters. I’m not going to try to be his best mate out there.”

Nobody will ever forget who won at Augusta last year.

But it is interesting the lengths at which McIlroy has gone to make sure everyone knows who lost.

And with DeChambeau in fantastic form heading into Rory’s title defence, this very real rivalry could be about to explode once again.