Bryson DeChambeau’s Masters gallery glare? There was a message within

AUGUSTA, Ga. — The closing moments of the third round of this 89th Masters threw Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau into sharp relief.

When Rory McIlroy, in the penultimate pairing, had closed out an awe-inspiring six-under 66 that briefly gave him the lead by three, he walked off the back of the 18th green and through a channel of energized patrons. “ROAR-EE! ROAR-EE!” the crowds boomed, as if McIlroy had already secured his first Masters title and the career Grand Slam that has eluded him for more than a decade. McIlroy was unmoved — externally, anyway. No fist bumps or high fives. Not even a smile. He looked like a golfer who knew there was still much work to be done.

Fifteen or so minutes later, it was DeChambeau’s turn.

DeChambeau was in the final pairing and had just completed an electric round of his own: a three-under 69 that he’d capped with a nearly 60-foot birdie bomb to pull within two of McIlroy. When DeChambeau made the walk from the green to scoring, he was the anti-Rory: He hugged the rope line and slapped hands with dozens, if not, hundreds of hooting patrons.

“Let’s go!” he said repeatedly. A smile lit up his face.

He looked less like a golfer exiting the course than a triumphant wrestler exiting a WWE arena.  

This is the Bryson DeChambeau we’ve come to know, of course. But at this tournament, in this decorous setting, his energy on a thrill-a-minute Saturday felt especially charged.

There was one moment in particular that might have caught your eye, on the green at the par-3 16th.

DeChambeau was one under for the round and eight under for the tournament, having just birdied the par-5 15th, and in need of some more circles on his card. McIlroy had opened his round with five straight 3s to get to 11 under, and after giving back two strokes at 8 and 10, was charging again. In the pairing ahead of DeChambeau, he’d sent roars echoing off the pines with a birdie at 13 and eagle at 15 to climb to 12 under. The gap was widening.

DeChambeau needed to counter, and he did, floating a short iron into the 16th green that touched down 20 paces right of the stick and trundled down toward the hole, leaving him four feet for birdie. When he poured that in, he bent over and pulled his ball from the hole, then glared across the pond as he tapped the green with his putter. His stare was directed at the patrons packing the grandstand to the left of the green, and you didn’t need a body-language expert to interpret the message: How you like me now?   

Asked about the moment after his round, DeChambeau said: “Rory was kind of moving forward. He was at 12 under, and I was kind of chasing a bit. When I made that, I looked up and I said, kind of as a statement, like, ‘You know what? I’m still here. I’m going to keep going. I’m not going to back down.’”

A statement.

Followed by another at 18, where he holed his longest putt of the week.

DeChambeau’s motivation: get a Sunday starting time alongside McIlroy. “On 15, 16, 17, 18, those last few holes, I just kept thinking to myself, just get in the final pairing,” he said. “Just execute those shots the best you possibly can and give yourself a chance.”

DeChambeau got his wish.

He and McIlroy will set off at 2:30 p.m. local time. The final pairing on Masters Sunday, or, as DeChambeau put it, “the grandest stage that we’ve had in a long time.”