Rory McIlroy Details Tense 2025 Masters Moment with Bryson DeChambeau: ‘I Was Just Going to Stand Firm’

NEED TO KNOW

• Rory McIlroy is speaking out about an interaction he had with a fellow golfer at The Masters in 2025
• McIlroy, who went on to win the tournament, was paired with Bryson DeChambeau in the final round
• The two seemingly argued about who should putt first on the 9th hole

Rory McIlroy is giving more context to his controversial interaction with Bryson Dechambeau at The Masters in 2025.

The two rivals, who were paired together during the final round of the major last April, had a heated back-and-forth on the 9th green— and McIlroy says their disagreement helped fuel him to go on to win and finally clinch the career Grand Slam.

“I thought it very clearly was my putt,” McIlroy, 36, says in a new documentary Rory McIlroy: The Masters Wait, while discussing how the two players both had similar length birdie putts. “I thought his putt was slightly closer to mine. We sort of look at each other and I’m like, ‘I think it’s me to go.’ And he’s like ‘I think it’s me to go.’ ”

McIlroy continues, “It’s very gamesmanship-y, match play thing. Really, both of us want to putt first because if you can hole that before your opponent it puts pressure on them. He goes, ‘Why don’t we 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 like game on a Tuesday afternoon somewhere. I’m like, no. I wasn’t going to wilt in that situation. I’m going to stand firm.”

Later, DeChambeau, 32, told reporters that McIlroy “wouldn’t talk to me.”

“[He] didn’t talk to me once all day,” DeChambeau said at the time. 

All of which had McIlroy aiming to clear up the confusion about a month later.

“I don’t know what he was expecting,” he told reporters in advance of the PGA Championship. “We’re trying to win the Masters. I’m not going to try to be his best mate out there.”

The Northern Irish golfer went on to win the tournament while DeChambeau faded along the final stretch to finish tied for fifth.

In videos and photos taken just moments after he won the competition in Georgia, McIlroy could be seen dropping to his knees while sobbing, before making his way toward the cheering crowds. He first gave his wife Erica Stoll a hug and kiss, and then picked up his daughter Poppy for a tight hug as he began to cry again.

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On the eve of this year’s tournament, the athlete is reflecting on the significance of the incident with DeChambeau.

“I just felt like that was a really big moment,” McIlroy says in the doc. “I was proud of myself for holding my ground.”

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