Brandel Chamblee weighs in on Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau feud

Brandel Chamblee believes a feud is igniting between Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau on the fairways – giving the majors a ‘Ryder Cup feel’.

McIlroy and DeChambeau meet again this week at the PGA Championship, a month on from their highly-anticipated showdown at The Masters.

Of course, McIlroy outlasted a stumbling DeChambeau on that thrilling finale at Augusta National – but it was the US Open champion’s reaction afterwards that sparked further talk of a rivalry.

“Didn’t talk to me once all day,” DeChambeau said about McIlroy. “He was just like – just being focused, I guess. It’s not me, though.”

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Of course, McIlroy and DeChambeau compete against each other only on four occasions a season given they compete on different tours – but NBC analyst Chamblee is adamant an authentic rivalry has finally formed in men’s professional golf.

“There’s a little bit of friction in the game and there’s rivalries in the game,” he said. “Rivalries don’t come around very often.

“Matter of fact, I can’t really remember the last great rivalry after Jack and Tom Watson. It’s been a long, long time. I mean, there were no real rivalries between Tiger Woods.

“They certainly didn’t pop up in major championships because he just handily beat everybody, but there is a rivalry right now between Rory and Bryson DeChambeau.

“Two of the last three major championships have pitted those two head-to-head. And it hasn’t happened yet, but there is a rivalry.

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“It’s palpable between Rory and Scottie Scheffler and, of course, there’s a rivalry between the PGA Tour and LIV.

“There’s a silver lining in the upheaval of the game over the last two, three, four, five years, it’s that every major championship has a Ryder Cup feel to it.

“They’re not playing for their countries. They’re playing for their representative tours, PGA Tour versus the LIV Tour and, however you feel about either one of those, it has heightened the anticipation of major championships.”

Ben Parsons is the Senior Writer at bunkered and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.