Rory McIlroy came into Master’s Sunday with a two shot lead over Bryson DeChambeau… After one hole, it was all tied up. After two, he was down one.
UPDATE: Rory is back up three after the fifth hole, so this entire write-up could be for not… Unless Rory falters again…
UPDATE 2: Rory has been tied once again, but this time it’s Justin Rose and Ludvig Aberg who have caught the leader at minus 10. DeChambeau has completely fallen apart, sending two shots into the water and being very ineffective with his irons and putting. As I’m writing, Rory just missed an Eagle attempt on 14 but made birdie, Rose is on 17, and Aberg on 16. He’s now at eleven under while Rose and Alberg are ten under.
I’m a golf normie, no question about it. I watch the Majors and try to keep an eye on the weekend scoreboards but by no means am I some expert who knows the history of golf and its current players. With that being said, I was pretty sure that Rory would not be able to keep his two stroke buffer for the entire round on Sunday but I had no idea that he’d blow it this soon.
On hole one, Rory made double-bogey, a horrendous start that’s reminiscent of his late collapse at the 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2, where he missed two short putts in the last three holes, allowing Bryson to make the greatest shot of his career, putting a bunker shot within a few feet, allowing him to make par and complete the wild comeback.
Rory made par on the second, but Bryson made birdie, putting him in the lead for the first time at the 2025 Masters.
Golf fans online immediately sounded off on how Rory appeared to, once again, be falling apart…
Rory Mcilroy on Masters Sunday: pic.twitter.com/l0SzzLFscN
— Old Row (@OldRowOfficial) April 13, 2025
watching Rory pic.twitter.com/Zgv2KdO2D9
— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) April 13, 2025
Rory. pic.twitter.com/609ZYKBNR7
— Kevin Clark (@bykevinclark) April 13, 2025
I’m really sorry, but Rory looks beat already. This isn’t what you want to be seeing on hole number 2 pic.twitter.com/XlJ8pkjkR6
— Flushing It (@flushingitgolf) April 13, 2025
Rory’s lead pic.twitter.com/qeeNjH1JRP
— Pat Mayo (@ThePME) April 13, 2025
Rory McIlroy when he has a commanding lead in a major pic.twitter.com/52CGNK6bk8
— Ben Houselog (@benlikessport) April 13, 2025
After Saturday’s round, Bryson went full confidence mode in the media regarding the upcoming Sunday battle with Rory. The two have some tension between them, dating back to the LIV vs PGA debacle when the Saudi-backed league came into the fold. Rory at one point said he’d “rather retire” than go play for them but then was reported to be in talks to join the league for some enormous sum of money… That never materialized and Rory remains one of the faces of the PGA. Bryson, on the other hand, is a LIV Captain and pretty much the face of that league. I won’t pretend to be an expert on the ins and outs of this spat (or potential lack thereof) but safe to say they probably won’t be sharing a beer when this one’s all said and done.
As I was writing this, we had another swing on the third hole. Rory birdied and Bryson bogeyed, putting Rory ahead. Repeat on 4 and Rory is not looking at a 3 stroke lead.
Safe to say, this one’s going to come down to the wire and I’m pumped to be able to watch it.
