Bob Rotella: Not talking to Bryson DeChambeau was Rory McIlroy's game plan
Ten months after McIlroy's heartbreaking defeat by DeChambeau in the US Open at Pinehurst, the pair made up the final group at Augusta National, where McIlroy almost threw away a five-shot lead before beating Justin Rose in a play-off.
DeChambeau started the day two shots behind McIlroy but slipped to a tie for fifth with a closing 75. When asked how McIlroy was feeling as he signed for his scorecard, DeChambeau said: 'No idea. Didn't talk to me once all day.' Asked whether he had tried to initiate any conversation during the round, DeChambeau
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The Independent
20 minutes ago
- The Independent
Rory McIlroy relishing ‘great opportunity' to lift FedEx Cup from level start
Rory McIlroy says he is comfortable with the format change at this year's Tour Championship, which gives each one of the 30-strong field a unique chance to lift the FedEx Cup. Masters champion McIlroy is second in the FedEx rankings behind defending champion Scottie Scheffler, but will not start with a two-shot deficit as the unpopular starting-strokes format has been scrapped this year. Every player will start equal at East Lake in Atlanta on Thursday, meaning the Tour Championship winner will also be crowned FedEx champion and will pocket the £7.4million on offer. McIlroy said: 'Any time you make it back to East Lake you've had a good year and it's always nice to come back. 'We've played this event and this golf course in a bunch of different formats. 'It has a different feel, any one of the 30 has a chance to win the FedEx Cup this year, which is obviously a lot different than it's been in previous years. 'It's a clean slate for everyone and it's a great opportunity for one of the guys who maybe wasn't a huge part of the season to put their hand up and have a chance to win the big prize at the end of the year. 'It's also an opportunity for some of the guys who have had great years to rubberstamp the season a little bit and end of a positive note. There's still a lot to play for this week.' Tommy Fleetwood, up to fifth in the FedEx Cup rankings after back-to-back tied-third and tied-fourth finishes, said he was excited that this year's new format gives everyone an equal chance. He said: 'I'm sure everybody aside from Scottie Scheffler will love the fact we're all starting on a level playing field. You win this week and you're holding two trophies.' Fleetwood, who has had seven top-10 finishes this season, is still chasing his first PGA Tour win after coming close at the FedEx St Jude Championship before his tied-fourth finish on Sunday at the BMW Championship. He added: 'I'll finish it off at some point. I'll get it right and I'll get it right more than once. 'Best-case scenario, coming down the stretch at East Lake with a chance to win. Whether I get it right or not, whether someone plays better or not, I'll talk about that after.'
Telegraph
21 minutes ago
- Telegraph
US Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley warned not to make ‘worst decision ever'
Sam Torrance has told Keegan Bradley he will make 'the worst decision ever as a Ryder Cup captain' if he names himself as a wild card next week. If United States captain Bradley did not feel under the microscope enough, as the hours count down to what is sure to be a contentious choice, then Torrance piled on the pressure on Tuesday. Forty years ago here at the Belfry, America were defeated in the biennial dust-up for the first time in 28 years. That European victory paved the way for decades of previously unthinkable blue-and-gold domination. To recognise that anniversary, Torrance played alongside Ian Woosnam in a five-hole exhibition against Sir Nick Faldo and Sandy Lyle. It was all smiles on the Brabazon, but the old-timers soon became serious in the media centre. Torrance supplied the killer quote – just as he applied the winning putt in 1985 – then Faldo and Woosnam also made their feelings clear. 'It's the impossible job to do both,' Faldo, Europe's 2008 captain, said. 'There's so much attention needed. The fans will call him selfish for picking himself. Goodness knows what the media will say. You could regret it for the rest of your life. Look, you've got enough going on trying to win your match. We hope Bradley does... we hope he stays as captain and does two roles!' Woosnam, the 2006 captain, concurred, but minus the dry humour. 'It's pretty much impossible to be a player and to captain the team,' he said. 'You've got to get your team in before noon for the second set of matches. If he's on the golf course still playing, he won't be able to do that. Well, he will. But not [with] all the information he needs.' For Torrance it is 'the ultimate no-brainer'. 'I don't think he can do it or should do it,' the Scot, who led the 2002 team to glory, said. 'He is so high up on the world rankings. The proper thing is to play and give the captaincy to Jim Furyk or somebody.' Bradley, however, has shown no signs of relinquishing the hot seat. It is surely too late now, with the match in New York but five weeks away. The 39-year-old will be the second youngest captain after Arnold Palmer, who was also the last playing captain 62 years ago. Bradley has paved the path for himself to enact the dual role by convincing opposite number Luke Donald to rewrite the long-standing Captains' Agreement. Donald has allowed Bradley to designate an assistant to be the stand-in captain if he is playing – and this is important because it is only the captains who can give players advice on the course. In truth, Donald will only have been too happy with the update. In this scenario, it is assumed that Furyk, the 2018 losing captain, will fulfil the role and although that appears to have the whiff of chaos about it, another of Bradley's assistants is convinced it would work. But even Brandt Snedeker's thoughts on the issues could be best described as erratic. Three months ago, Snedeker declared, 'I don't think it's possible to be able to do both just with how much stuff goes into being a captain'. Yet here he was at the Belfry on Tuesday, completing a mightily impressive, if not altogether surprising, about turn. 'Well, I kind of changed my tune on that,' he told 'I feel like Keegan can do both. I've been really impressed with his ability to compartmentalise, his ability to still play some great golf while dealing with what we know he's been dealing with off the course. 'The amount of stuff he's had to do to make this special for the guys has been unbelievable. So I think all of us have kind of come around to realising that if we feel like he's one of our best 12 players, he can do both and we can help him do that.' Snedeker is playing in the British Masters – the DP World Tour event promoted by Faldo – on an invite. As the final European qualification tournament, he will be reporting back to Bradley, who is playing at the Tour Championship in Atlanta. Rasmus Hojgaard is the only player who can leapfrog into the top six who automatically qualify for Bethpage. The Dane only needs a tie for 29th to do so. Donald will name his six captain's picks on September 1 and if Hojgaard does displace Shane Lowry – who is essentially guaranteed a third appearance anyway – then it appears his job is straightforward. Matt Fitzpatrick's candidature might be the only doubt, but the 2022 US Open champion has shown the commitment to play here and is in resurgent form. The headaches are all Bradley's.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
PGA Tour ends decade-long absence from Trump-owned courses with Doral return in 2026
The PGA Tour will return to Donald Trump's Blue Monster course in Miami next spring, ending a decade-long absence from Trump-owned venues. The Miami Championship, a $20m Signature Event scheduled for the first weekend in May 2026, will mark the 56th time the Tour has played at Trump National Doral but the first since 2016, the year Trump won his first US presidential election. That year, the WGC-Cadillac Championship was pulled from the resort and relocated to Mexico City after Cadillac ended its sponsorship. At the time, then-commissioner Tim Finchem stressed that the decision was 'fundamentally a sponsorship issue' and not political, despite Trump's incendiary remarks on immigration and his insistence the Tour was punishing him for his first US presidential run. 'We value dollars for our players,' Finchem said in 2016. 'We were not able to secure sponsorship for Doral. From a golf standpoint, we have no issues with Donald Trump. From a political standpoint, we are neutral.' Trump, who had spent $250m redeveloping the Doral property, publicly lashed out at the Tour and quipped that he hoped officials had 'kidnapping insurance' for the event's new Mexican host city. For the next decade, the Blue Monster fell off the PGA calendar and instead became a regular site for the upstart LIV Golf series, serving as a centerpiece in the Saudi-backed league's schedule. Now the course returns at a moment of transition for the PGA Tour. The Miami Championship expands the roster of Signature Events to nine and sits at the heart of a crowded spring. Beginning with the Masters in April, players will face four Signature Events and two majors in a seven-week stretch, with only the Zurich Classic in New Orleans breaking the run. Next season's PGA TOUR schedule is here!2026, we're ready for you 💪 'We're excited to showcase the game's greatest players competing at golf's most iconic venues,' said Brian Rolapp, the Tour's new chief executive. 'Inspired by our players and fans, we're accelerating the Tour's evolution and ushering in a new era of innovation on and off the course.' The Miami Championship is expected to secure a title sponsor before its debut. Its addition shifts the Mexico Open into the FedExCup Fall and removes the Barracuda Championship in California, which had been played opposite the British Open. Doral has been synonymous with PGA Tour golf since 1962, when it launched as the Doral Open. It became a World Golf Championship site in 2007 but struggled to sustain sponsorship after Trump's 2012 purchase of the property. The 2016 split was, in Finchem's words, pragmatic rather than political, though it coincided with Trump's polarizing rise.
