Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau played together during the final round of the 2020 Charles Schwab Challenge, with the latter going on to finish one shot off making a playoff at Colonial.
The rivalry between McIlroy and DeChambeau really kicked into another gear once the American had decided to leave the PGA Tour to join LIV Golf in 2022. DeChambeau has been one of the most vocal supporters of the league over the years.
But DeChambeau clearly got under McIlroy’s skin before anyone had any idea what LIV Golf would become. The Northern Irishman made no secret of the fact that he attempted to keep up with DeChambeau after he underwent a dramatic body transformation from late 2019.
DeChambeau added 40 pounds to his frame while the PGA Tour season was suspended due to the pandemic. His first start after the hiatus was the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth.
How Rory McIlroy reacted to Bryson DeChambeau’s transformation in 2020
Remarkably, DeChambeau would average 340.4 yards off the tee at Colonial as he went on to finish just one shot behind Daniel Berger and Collin Morikawa. He missed a putt on the last to join them in a playoff.
Berger would end up winning the title.
DeChambeau and McIlroy played together in the final round. And, as reported by the PGA Tour website, McIlroy was left stunned by his playing partner’s performance.
“It was nuts. It’s unbelievable,” he said. “I mean, it’s impressive what he’s doing. There’s going to be courses where it works, and there’s going to be courses where it won’t. I can’t see him hitting that many drivers this week [at the RBC Heritage], for example.”
“Look, it’s impressive,” McIlroy added. “He’s big. He’s sort of gone down a path, and he’s got a conviction, and he’s following it. That’s what he’s done. He’s always thought outside the box and thought a little differently to most people.
“He’s really put his mind at wanting to get longer, and he’s definitely done that.”
The question Rickie Fowler asked about Bryson DeChambeau
The Charles Schwab Challenge saw DeChambeau register a top 10 finish on the PGA Tour for a fourth event in a row. That run would continue across his next three starts, culminating in his victory at the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
Understandably, there was some scepticism about DeChambeau’s decision to change his body so drastically.
Rickie Fowler suggested that he was intrigued to see where the ceiling would prove to be for his countryman.
“Just walking a golf course with that extra weight, let alone doing some workout at the house, that’s enough for 45 minutes to an hour,” he said. “It’s been really impressive to see what he’s done over, say, the last year or so with his transformation and obviously some serious gain in speed and power.
“But it will be interesting to see kind of where the peak is. Where does it become almost counterproductive as far as like too much speed, where dispersion becomes too great?”
DeChambeau’s greatest triumph of the year was still to come, as he went on to win the US Open by six shots. Of course, he proved to be the only player under par for the week at Winged Foot.
Nevertheless, it was clearly not sustainable for DeChambeau. He soon found a middle ground that allowed him to remain one of the longest hitters in the world while not putting his health at any sort of risk.
