Rory McIlroy’s silent treatment of DeChambeau was strategy

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According to a sports psychologist who works with Rory McIlroy, the golfer’s silent treatment of Bryson DeChambeau during the final round of the Masters was by design – but it wasn’t personal.

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“It didn’t have anything to do with Bryson,” Bob Rotella said Tuesday on a BBC radio show. “That was our game plan all week, and we just wanted to get lost in it.”

The plan didn’t exactly work to perfection, given that McIlroy coughed up his 54-hole lead and went on to make several more key errors during a roller-coaster round Sunday. Ultimately, though, the Northern Irish star earned his long-sought green jacket in a playoff against Justin Rose, well after DeChambeau had fallen by the wayside as they played together in the final pairing.

Asked Sunday after finishing tied for fifth whether he spoke with McIlroy in the clubhouse following their round and how McIlroy was feeling at that moment, DeChambeau replied: “No idea. Didn’t talk to me once all day.” The two were seen having brief exchanges shortly before and after the 18 holes unfolded, but it was a different story when it was time to compete.

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A two-time major winner, DeChambeau said that while the atmosphere Sunday was “electric,” little of that energy could be attributed to his playing partner.

“I loved it,” he said, “but [McIlroy] was just, like, eh. Just being focused, I guess.”

“That’s not me, though,” DeChambeau added.

In the wake of those comments, some golf fans took McIlroy’s apparent lack of interaction as a sign of possible discord with DeChambeau following some notable recent episodes, including the latter’s defection to LIV Golf. After the 31-year-old American stunningly relegated McIlroy to runner-up status on the final hole of last year’s U.S. Open, McIlroy quickly left the clubhouse without speaking with reporters or congratulating DeChambeau. McIlroy, who lost the lead with several disastrous bogeys down the stretch, said in a statement the next day that he had had “probably the toughest” day of his career and DeChambeau was “a worthy champion.”

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In December, ahead of a made-for-TV showdown pitting McIlroy and fellow PGA Tour standout Scottie Scheffler against LIV’s Brooks Koepka and DeChambeau, McIlroy said, “I’d like to go up against Bryson and try to get him back for what he did to me at the U.S. Open.” DeChambeau, standing nearby at the time, immediately responded by saying, “To be fair, you kind of did it to yourself.” The two were smiling during the ostensibly lighthearted banter, which McIlroy ended by saying, “I don’t really know where to go from there.”

Then came Sunday’s final round. Rotella said his client was more focused on performing at his best than on playing potential mind games with a rival.

“We just wanted him to play his game,” Rotella said of McIlroy to the BBC, “and assume that if you play your game anywhere near the way you’re capable of, you’ll end up number one.”

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A former professor of sports psychology at the University of Virginia who has counseled golfers for more than four decades, Rotella said Tuesday that part of his strategy for improving their mental approach is to instill some helpful perspective.

“We begin with the idea that golf – by design – is a game of mistakes, and if you love the game of golf, you have to love that it’s a game of mistakes,” he said. “You remind them that other players are playing the same game, so they’re all going to make a lot of mistakes. The second part is because you are a human being, you’re going to make mistakes that you can’t believe you made, and you have to accept that.”

That advice may have come in handy for McIlroy after he arrived at the 13th hole with a four-shot lead. With an 11-year quest to complete a career Grand Slam with a Masters win almost in his grasp, McIlroy hit a calamitously wayward chip shot that rolled off the green and found water. That led to a double bogey. After another bogey at the 14th hole, combined with a string of birdies by Rose, McIlroy was suddenly out of the lead altogether.

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DeChambeau said Sunday he “wanted to cry” for his playing partner following the debacle at No. 13.

“There were times where it looked like he had full control,” DeChambeau added, “and times where it’s like, ‘What’s going on?’ So it kind of looked like one of my rounds, actually.”

Asked whether he had tried at any point to “initiate conversation” with McIlroy, DeChambeau replied, “He wouldn’t talk to me.”

DeChambeau was in the midst of his own meltdown at the time, particularly after losing three strokes at the 11th and 12th holes to drop from contention, but McIlroy managed to steady himself and make birdies at Nos. 15 and 17 to overtake Rose. With a cathartic triumph again at hand, however, he bogeyed the 18th hole, only to make another birdie in the playoff and finally collapse to the green in exultation – and relief.

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“Getting the Masters, the career Grand Slam, the fifth major, getting all that out of the way, I think it will allow me to play with a lot more freedom,” McIlroy said Monday to the BBC. “I really do think it’s going to free me up. It’s been a long time coming.”

Rotella agreed, saying Tuesday that with “a burden off his back,” McIlroy would “probably go on and win quite a few more.” In addition to his own advice, Rotella credited the crowd at Augusta National for wanting to help McIlroy “cross the finish line.”

“It was probably as loud and crazy as I’ve ever heard,” Rotella said. “I think it showed that golf fans love Rory, and I think some of it is because he’s so open and honest in every interview that he does. He tells you everything he’s feeling and going through, and I think it made people be able to identify with him.”

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