After 54 holes, Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau are the top favorites to win the 2025 Masters Tournament title. The vagaries of golf put them together in the final group of the event, which will undoubtedly rekindle the passions present at Pinehurst No. 2 last June.
Of course, that’s the most recent memory fans have of a matchup between the two, but their shared history is much more than that. As two indispensable names in today’s game, they’ve understandably shared the spotlight on numerous occasions.
According to Golf Channel reporter Rex Hoggard, there have been exactly seven rounds of golf that McIlroy and DeChambeau have played together in PGA Tour events. In those rounds, the reigning U.S. Open champion had a scoring average exactly two strokes better than the Northern Irishman, 67.57 to 69.57.
Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau have been paired together seven times in PGA Tour events, most recently at the 2021 Genesis Invitational. Bryson has a 67.57 scoring average in those head-to-head meetings, Rory has a 69.57 average.
— Rex Hoggard (@RexHoggardGC) April 13, 2025
However, DeChambeau’s advantage has not necessarily translated into victories. In fact, the two players have only managed a one-two finish in official tournaments on two occasions.
The first of those events was the 2018 Arnold Palmer Invitational. On that occasion, DeChambeau outplayed McIlroy in the first two rounds with scores of 67 and 66 for 69 and 70. However, the Northern Irishman closed the gap to just one stroke with a moving day 67 to the American’s 72.
The two were paired for the final round, with McIlroy besting DeChambeau 64 for 68 to defeat him by three strokes, 18-under to 15-under.
It was the other way around at the 2024 U.S. Open when DeChambeau came out on top. Both stars were among the leaders throughout the event, but on the 14th hole of the fourth round, it looked like McIlroy might take the title by defeating the current LIV Golf star and the rest of the field.
At that point in the tournament, McIlroy had overturned a three-shot deficit from the previous day and was leading the event. However, he bogeyed three of his final four holes, including two short putts for par to drop to second place, one shot behind DeChambeau.
Playing a group behind, the Modesto, California, native made the most of what the Northern Irishman had handed him for free, parring the final three holes in spectacular fashion to hold on to the one-stroke lead that would eventually earn him his second major title.
McIlroy and DeChambeau face each other one more time, but not in an official event. It was a made-for-TV golf show called “The Showdown,” in which the Northern Irishman and Scottie Scheffler defeated DeChambeau and fellow LIV Golf player Brooks Koepka.
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