‘If he wants to play competitive golf, it doesn't seem like he's got many options’ - McIlroy on DeChambeau’s DP World Tour escape route
Rory McIlroy. Picture: Getty
Rory McIlroy believes Bryson DeChambeau would bring “eyeballs” to the DP World Tour and doesn’t have “many options” other than taking up membership before next week’s deadline.
The former LIV Golf star has yet to decide whether to take up his exemption for winning the 2024 US Open, saying in a recent statement about his future, “I’ll approach it with humility and respect for the people who carried this game long before me.”
McIlroy was the big loser in that 2024 US Open at Pinehurst No. 2, but he’s the big winner in the wake of LIV Golf’s decision to wind down operations and reckons an influx of former LIV Golf stars currently in limbo would be a good thing for the DP World Tour
“Yeah, look, I think a name like Bryson DeChambeau and everything he brings with him, good and bad, he brings eyeballs, which is a good thing for tournaments,” McIlroy said in Dubai, where he is bidding to win the DP World Tour Championship and equal Colin Montgomerie’s haul of eight Harry Vardon Trophy wins.
“And honestly, look, I'm certainly not in his shoes, and nor would I ever want to be, but it doesn't seem like he's got many options.
“You know, if he wants to play competitive golf, it doesn't seem like he's got many options.”
DeChambeau’s 2024 US Open win came with a five-year DP World Tour exemption, but under DP World Tour regulations, 12 months is deducted for every year the option is not activated, leaving 2027 as the last season open to the American.
As for this week’s final event, McIlroy trails Race to Dubai leader Eugenio Chacarra by 533 points but with 2,000 points on offer for the winner and 1,335 for second, as many as nine players — Chacarra, McIlroy, Patrick Reed, Casey Jarvis, Aaron Rai, Jon Rahm, Jayden Schaper, Ryan Fox and Daniel Hillier — can still win the Race to Dubai.
Mcllroy has won the event three times and while he knows he has a big advantage in terms of experience over Chacarra, he stopped short of agreeing that the Spaniard’s task was akin to taking on Manchester United at Old Trafford.
“Hopefully not,” McIlroy joked.
“I'm very excited to be back here, and yeah, very excited to be in contention for the eighth,” he said. “I made some ground up last week, maybe not as much as I wanted, but I felt like it was a step in the right direction.
“And yeah, getting back to a place where I played, I played well and I had a lot of success, even last year in the playoff with Matt, it's been a course that's been very good to me over the years, and I have a lot of experience on it and a lot of experience up at the top end of the leaderboard. Experience going out in that final group on a Thursday.”
Distance is an advantage, but McIlroy agreed that reducing driving distance gains is important for the game, even if it’s not to his advantage.
“I'm in favour of doing anything and everything to sort of curb where we are at,” said the Holywood star, who drove the 378-yard first hole at Yas Links last week.
“Ball, club, I think the equipment at the top level needs to be regulated better than where it is right now.
“Just for the overall, like, skill, like there's a disproportionate -- I guess distance is a big issue in the game at the top level because it maybe negates other skills that were more prevalent in golf 20 or 30 years ago.
“I'm sort of the poster child for this, right. I drove it on a couple of greens last week. You could argue that rolling it back for me is not beneficial or not advantageous, but the longest guys are still going to be longest guys.
“And I think if we can just get a little bit more skill and shot-making back into the game, I think that would be better for everyone. I think it would separate the best players from each other, and I think it would make the game more entertaining to watch.”
The Co Down man was also sounded out for his views on Frank Kennedy being disqualified from the DP World Tour Qualifying School on Monday for allegedly taking a divot out on the 11th green,
“I think very unfortunate,” McIlroy said of the Kennedy decision and the accusation which the English player denies. “I was talking to Harry about it out on the course.
“It seems harsh but at the same time, I think it's good that golf and the authorities are cracking down on things like this. It's an unbelievably unfortunate incident.
“Yeah, I think we all, when we're younger, or even I still have my moments where I'm maybe not proud of some of the things that I do on the golf course in anger or if I've hit a bad shot.”
The DP World Tour confirmed to Monday Q Info that Kennedy was DQ’d for “serious misconduct, after causing deliberate damage to the course.”
Kennedy took to Instagram later on Monday to dispute the characterisation of what happened.
“I am hugely disappointed to have been disqualified …” Kennedy wrote. “Reports today say this was for deliberately damaging the course. I did not intentionally or deliberately damage the putting surface, and any comments saying otherwise are wholly incorrect.”
Kennedy explained that he missed a birdie putt at the 11th and “in frustration” he swung his putter and “it accidentally caught the surface.
“My playing partner and I repaired it straight away, and we were both satisfied it was properly fixed before we moved on,” he said. “I should have called a referee to check the repair, and I’ve learned from that.”
