Rory McIlroy’s aggressive approach to playing Augusta National—save for that ill-fated layup Sunday on No. 13—helped him finally claim that elusive first green jacket to complete the career Grand Slam. Turns out, he also had a game plan when it came to talking on the course.
McIlroy’s final-round playing partner, Bryson DeChambeau, said after that McIlroy didn’t talk to him for the entire round. And other than McIlroy making history, his not talking became the most-talked about part of that dramatic final day.
Many people speculated the rivalry between the PGA Tour and LIV being the main cause of this lack of chatter. Or, more specifically, a brewing rivalry between Bryson and Rory following last year’s U.S. Open at Pinehurst, where McIlroy suffered his latest major heartbreak while DeChambeau triumphed. Then a few months later, there was this awkward moment on the range ahead of “The Showdown,” a made-for-TV exhibition in which Team PGA Tour (McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler) topped Team LIV (DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka) in Vegas.
McIlroy had to take at least a little added pleasure from taking down DeChambeau on Sunday, but the silent treatment he gave him was nothing personal, according to Bob Rotella. The renowned sports psychologist who works with McIlroy spoke to the BBC on Tuesday and explained McIlroy’s lack of chatter with his opponent during that crazy final round at Augusta National.
“That didn’t have anything to do with Bryson,” Rotella told the BBC. “That was just the game plan all week, and we wanted to get lost in it.
“We didn’t want to pay attention to what anyone else was scoring or shooting or swinging or how far they were hitting it. We just wanted Rory to play his game.”
Hey, you can’t argue with the results. And as many have pointed out, other great champions like Tiger Woods have been known to do the same at big events to get extra locked in. You do what you can do to give yourself any edge possible. And based on Bryson’s reaction, it may have even thrown him off on Sunday.
“The point is, if you believe you’re going to win, just play your game and assume that if you do that anywhere near the way you’re capable of, then you will end up No. 1,” Rotella added.
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