McIlroy blown away by Bryson: "We're like, holy shit, that was unbelievable"
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland plays a shot from a bunker during a practice round prior to the RBC Heritage on June 17, 2020 at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
Forget about Rory McIlroy’s final round blow-up in the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial or his view that European stay-aways should be in the US right now “if they care” about their careers.
The world No 1 reckons the most jaw-dropping part about his return to PGA Tour action was the incredible power that Bryson DeChambeau was generating with his driver last Sunday.
“Yeah, I mean, obviously, at the start of the year, he came out, and he was a bit bigger. You could see he was getting a bit of speed and stuff, and he was hitting it a long way. But he hit a couple of drives on Sunday that Harry and I just looked at each other, and we're like, holy shit, that was unbelievable,” McIlroy said ahead of his first appearance in the RBC Heritage at Harbor town since 2009.
”He hit one into the wind on 11. I hit a really good one and probably hit it like 315, 320. He must have flown my ball by 40 yards. He hit it like 370, 375 into the wind. It was crazy. It was nuts. It's unbelievable.”
As for McIlroy’s six-over front nine en route to a 74 when just three shots off the lead, the Holywood star dismissed it as a blip.
And when asked for his assessment of Nick Faldo’s comment that he appears to have “no plan B” when things go wrong, he said that commentators have to say something.
“I didn't hear that, no. Look, commentators are put in positions where, look, they have to say something. They're not just going to sit there and be silent. I respect Nick a lot. Nick's been really good to me growing up, as a junior golfer and even into the professional level,” he said.
“If you really care about your career and care about moving forward, you should be here”
“Look, I get the position he's put in with commentary where you just have to say something, you have to make a comment. I've learned very quickly out here that you don't take anything personally and you just move on.”
As for what went wrong in Sunday’s 74, and whether he was worried about a trend having also shot 73 on the last day at Riviera or 76 on the final day of the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, he sounded unconcerned.
“I wouldn't say that Sundays this year have been disappointing,” he said in reply to a question that suggested that he’d had “ a few “ disappointing final rounds.
“I mean, I played -- maybe Bay Hill, I would say was disappointing, and obviously last week, but that was just more annoying, like I played crap. That was really it. Like it wasn't as if it was anything to do with the position I was in or I got off to a really bad start and got into a rut on the front nine and hit decent shots that ended up in a bunker or a bad lie or whatever and just sort of -- it's one of those things where the momentum just started going the other way.
“No, look, it's fine. I played okay last week. It was a good gauge to see where I was at and what I needed to practice and what I needed to do going into the next few weeks. Obviously disappointing not to shoot a good one on Sunday, but it was fine. I learnt quite a bit from it, and hopefully those lessons I can put into practice this week.”
Shane Lowry will be keen to go better than last year at Hilton Head where he finished third and having missed the cut in Texas, playing all four rounds is imperative.
Graeme McDowell also missed the cut but like Lowry, he has fond memories of Hilton Head, where he won the title in 2013.
McIlroy, Lowry and McDowell are part of a 14-strong European contingent in the US for the opening events of the re-booted PGA Tour season.
But when asked if he could understand why others [such as Tommy Fleetwood and Lee Westwood] have stayed away and given up lucrative world ranking points, citing the two-week quarantine period that comes before and after every transatlantic trip, he had little sympathy.
He said: “Look, personally, if I were in their shoes and I was asked to come over to the states and shelter in place or quarantine for two weeks before these tournaments, I would have done that. If you really care about your career and care about moving forward, you should be here, I think. Last week was 70 World Ranking points for the winner, this week 74.
”And I get there's different variables and families and stuff involved, but we all have the means to rent a very nice house in a gated community in Florida and -- you know, it's not a hardship for two weeks to come over and quarantine. I mean, it's fine. My caddie Harry came over and did it. He stayed in our guest house. The two weeks flew by.
“Yeah, I honestly don't understand the guys complaining because there is a solution to it. You can come over here and do what needs to be done.”
He added: “You know, most kids, it's sort of the end of the school year. I know a few kids that went back to school. Again, you can bring your family with you. We all have the means to do that.
“Look I don't quite -- it might seem a little harsh, but I don't get that mindset, especially if you care about your career and you want to advance.”
