Scottie Scheffler has broken his silence on Rory McIlroy’s rivalry with Bryson DeChambeau, and it’s fair to say he’s not a fan of it.
McIlroy spoke about DeChambeau’s rule controversy at The Open Championship, saying, “I’m not particularly fond of him”. DeChambeau protested a penalty ruled against him after the second round of The Open late into the evening, in a move McIlroy described as “performative”.
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The rivalry between DeChambeau and McIlroy goes way back. DeChambeau is the face of LIV Golf, which McIlroy has had public battles with in the past, and after DeChambeau beat McIlroy at the 2024 US Open, there has always been tension between the pair.
But in response to McIlroy’s comments, Scheffler said he’s not a fan of “personal jabs”, taking the side of DeChambeau in this instance. The world number one added that he doesn’t think rivalries are a big thing in golf because players aren’t competing one on one. “My biggest rivalry week in and week out is the golf course,” said Scheffler.
But this is a take that Dan Rapaport vehemently disagrees with.
Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images
Dan Rapaport disagrees with Scottie Scheffler’s opinion on Rory McIlroy vs Bryson DeChambeau
Scheffler said, “I don’t think that rivalry is a big thing in golf,” but looking back through golfing history, Rapaport completely disagrees with Scheffler’s take.
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Speaking on Dan on Golf, he mentioned some of the rivalries which have been great for the sport.
He said, “I would love for rivalry to be a bigger thing in golf.
“I think it’s awesome that Rory comes up there and just says like, I really don’t care for this guy. I remember, I mean it never really quite blossomed into it, but Tiger and Sergio Garcia obviously did not like each other at all, and they say, Phil and Tiger. There was rivalry there.
“So I wish rivalry was a little bit more part of it.”
Right now, the game is lacking a real edge. Beyond DeChambeau and McIlroy, players seem to get along nicely, and we’re lacking some big personalities to rock the apple cart a little.
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Even the villains of the past like Patrick Reed haven’t been on center stage recently, so they’ve avoided big controversies that have riled players up in the past. Perhaps his return to the PGA Tour could be the catalyst for some tension between players in the near future.
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