As the 2025 Master began, there was a hopeful tale of a showdown between the two best players in the world. These hopes were specialising in world number one Scotty Schaeffler, but incumbent Masters champions looking for his third green jacket over a four-year span, and world number two Rory McIlroy, Augusta National, will treat us with what could possibly be an even tasty final pair on Sunday afternoons.
With Schaeffler hiding behind the seven shots, McIlroy and Bryson Dechambeau will face off head-on on 18 holes for the first green jacket.
The partial rematch of the 2024 US Open at Pinehurst was a proxy war with McIlroy, who plays the group in front of Deccanbo, who was in the final pairing. Ten months later, their shots are fired in the same teebox and green. This is intended to create an incredible atmosphere within the Augusta National grounds.
Deccanbo provided a preview of the noisy scene waiting for both men on Sunday after filling in a 48-foot birdie putt on the 18th to close the third round. He tried to make all the patrons he saw between Green and the clubhouse into Haitan.
The Masters had a strong final pairing with the popular champion, but it’s safe to say this is the most talked about the duo on Sunday since Tiger Woods’ incredible 2019 victory.
McIlroy and Dechambeau are the closest to the true rivalry created by the PGA Tour and the golf landscape created by Liv Golf. There is respect between them, and neither of them intends to chirp others, but I believe there is a level of pride in the line when preparing to compete for this major championship.
Deccanbeau went to the top in North Carolina and handed McIlroy the most recent, fierce, big defeat in one of the biggest 60-yard bunker shots in history. McIlroy saw a shot from the famous scoring area, then peeled from the parking lot as he simmered in his latest big disappointment.
McIlroy has the opportunity to put an end to almost every ghost that bothers him – at once. He is waiting for 14 years of Green Jacket’s stay (third appearance after 54 holes in the Masters in 2011), 11 years of quests to complete his career grand slam (it’s 0-38 since winning the 2014 PGA Championship), and 10 months of revenge at Deconbeau.
McIlroy understands history and expects an atmosphere waiting for Sunday at Augusta National given his popularity and Deccanbeau’s rise in social media fame, but Rory is aiming to turn inward to deal with external noise.
“That final group will be a bit rough and a bit loud,” McIlroy said after completing his second straight 66 on Saturday, “I’m just trying to calm down and rest in my little bubble and bow my head tomorrow with the same attitude I’ve tried to approach for the last three days.”
Naturally, Deccanbeau is more apparently embracing the patron sea that follows its final pairing in 18 holes.
“It will be the most epic stage we have in a long time, and I’m excited about it,” he said. “We both want to win really badly. Filming, there are a lot of great players behind us, and we have to be careful about that.
It’s an attractive dichotomy, where two of golf’s biggest stars fight in places where they haven’t achieved ultimate success. The two crowd favorites, sometimes overlapping, have many established supporters on both sides, seeking to grab the moment for themselves.
This will be the ultimate test of McIlroy’s new confidence.
“I came here and talked about being the most complete version of myself as a golfer,” he said. “I need to keep reminding me of it… no matter what the situation feels like tomorrow, I can handle it.”
The two take a very different approach to the large crowd following a step that follows a short filmed step around the golf course. McIlroy is a little more restrained, but knows how to induce responses from the crowd in his own way. Dechambeau is much more empirical, seduces guests and causes noise. When he gave the grandstand a long gaze across the pond, he wanted to squeal a louder response to his birdie in 2016, and on the 17th he wanted to squeal McIlroy’s path.
“Rolly was like moving forward,” explained Deccanbeau. “He was under 12, but I was chasing a bit. When I made it, I looked up and said like a statement. [to myself]”I’m still here. I’m going. I’m not going to retreat.”
Augusta National is a particularly unique place to love golf as the gallery sounds travel very well from hole to hole.
McIlroy’s response to the first nine barrages on Saturday definitely returned to Deccanbo.
Sound does not need to travel on Sundays.
