Golf fans appear to be torn between whether they would prefer to see Bryson DeChambeau or Scottie Scheffler face Rory McIlroy in singles at the Ryder Cup.
There is no question that Rory McIlroy is the talisman for Team Europe at the Ryder Cup. The Northern Irishman was the player who made no secret of his desire to win at Bethpage the moment the matches concluded at Marco Simone in 2023.
McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler have had two stunning years. They have won three of the four majors between them, while they are the two players at the top of the world rankings.
However, plenty would clearly rather see McIlroy drawn with DeChambeau on Sunday in New York.
How the captains would feel about Rory McIlroy facing Bryson DeChambeau in Sunday singles at the Ryder Cup
Bryson DeChambeau is making his return to the Ryder Cup stage this week. And it seems fair to say that there is little love lost between the LIV Golf star and McIlroy.
DeChambeau was criticised for pointing out that McIlroy did not talk to him on Sunday at The Masters. Meanwhile, it was McIlroy’s turn to be slated for comments he made about DeChambeau this past week. He claimed that the LIV star has to speak about other players to receive attention.
Like many, Dan Rapaport is now keen to see McIlroy and DeChambeau face off in the final session at Bethpage.
“It’s getting a little bit spicy, and I love it. I absolutely love it, because this is the one week where there’s actually one player playing against another player. And what we need, what golf deserves is Bryson vs Rory in Sunday singles,” he said, on Dan on Golf.
“I don’t know why, I think it’s because Bryson’s playing on LIV, I don’t hear from him every week, it kind of just hit me while I was driving here: we need Bryson vs Rory in singles, we really need it. We need them to go at each other, we know they don’t like each other. They’ve won majors, they’re of the same generation, and I want to see them go head to head.”
Rapaport was then asked how Keegan Bradley and Luke Donald would feel about a matchup between DeChambeau and McIlroy.
“I think you’re confident in both. I think both will relish it. I love it. It’s a win-win,” he added.
Bryson DeChambeau’s singles record in the Ryder Cup
DeChambeau was a very different player when he made his Ryder Cup debut in 2018. And being sent out in foursomes with Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods did him few favours.
DeChambeau lost the anchor match in the Sunday singles against Alex Norén.
But he looked much more comfortable three years later at Whistling Straits. After going unbeaten alongside Scottie Scheffler, he went on to beat Sergio Garcia in match four in Wisconsin. Garcia had been one of Europe’s best players that week.
Meanwhile, DeChambeau halved his match with Adam Hadwin at the 2019 Presidents Cup.
Until 2023, McIlroy had never been sent out lower than third in the order. He dropped to fourth in Rome, perhaps in an attempt to end up facing Patrick Cantlay.
So there seems to be a very good chance that McIlroy will end up taking on one of the two biggest names on the American side in what would be a mouthwatering tie.
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