AUGUSTA, Ga. — First came Rory McIlroy. Then Bryson DeChambeau.
Not to the top of the leaderboard at the Masters — where both players rest after surging into contention on Friday afternoon at Augusta National — but to the driving range on Thursday evening, minutes after a bitter opening round.
Thursday at the Masters had not been kind to either man. McIlroy zoomed up the leaderboard with a cool, collected first 14 holes, then dropped a pair of double bogeys in the final four holes for a demoralizing 72. DeChambeau responded by playing Thursday with his hair on fire, making numbers other than par on 11 of his 18 holes. Now, against the glow of the late-afternoon sun, both men were searching — and they were going about it very differently.
McIlroy disappeared from the driving range almost as quickly as he arrived, following the sun into the parking lot and away from Augusta National, eager to forget the day that was. DeChambeau, however, set up shop in near-darkness and continued until the range lights turned on, banging ball after ball into the oblivion.
Differences pop against the starchy green backdrop of Masters week, and on Thursday and Friday at Augusta National, no difference was more significant than the one shared by golf’s two preeminent stars: McIlroy and DeChambeau.
Just like last June’s heart-stopping U.S. Open, the two golfers played in direct succession, and just like last June, it was clear to even the least-informed observer that these two men have become the torch-bearers for their sport. (With Scottie Scheffler lurking not far behind.) But beyond that first bit of shared altitude, no two players in professional golf are more diametrically opposed than McIlroy and DeChambeau.
Rory is an artist, Bryson is a scientist; Rory is an empath, Bryson is a showman; Rory is a traditionalist, Bryson is a maverick; Rory detests YouTube golf, Bryson is YouTube golf.
The crowds were loud and supportive of both players, but perhaps the best way to understand their differences was in the context of their cheers. McIlroy’s adulation was the quintessential Masters soundtrack: his best moments treated as a sign of eminent brilliance and his worst like an unfortunate mistake, with no shortage of reverential applause in the silences between. DeChambeau’s, though, bordered on the kind of treatment one might expect from a professional wrestler.
“We breakin’ 50 today Bryson?!” One man yelled, a reference to DeChambeau’s popular YouTube series.
“Did you see his last video?” another asked quietly.
On a Thursday and Friday at the Masters when crowds churned together like waves against the shore, these differences proved instructive not just of the players McIlroy and DeChambeau are, but also where they’re headed.
DeChambeau might win the Masters, but if he does, it will be because of moments like the 9th hole on Friday, when he pulled the ripcord a little too hard on a wedge approach, failing to account for the backspin that would will his ball straight off the front of the green. When he got up-and-down for 4 anyway, Bryson practically exploded, delivering a yell and three short fist-pumps before disappearing into the rest of his round.
