World number one Scottie Scheffler admits he has “never been a big fan of personal jabs” after Rory McIlroy publicly criticised Bryson DeChambeau at last week’s Open Championship.

McIlroy confessed he was not fond of the American, even before his “performative” antics at Royal Birkdale when his protestations over a two-stroke penalty for a rules infringement saw him threaten to call United States President Donald Trump, suggest he was going to pull out and then undertake a late-night range session which delayed the issue of Saturday’s tee times.

The Northern Irishman, who famously refused to speak to DeChambeau when they played together in the final group of his 2025 Masters win which completed the career grand slam, accused the two-time major winner of holding the tournament “hostage”.

Scheffler, who after an unsuccessful defence of the Claret Jug insisted DeChambeau was not a cheat, was asked whether he thought personal rivalries were good for the game.

“I’ve never been a big fan of personal jabs. I don’t think that rivalry is a big thing in golf because my biggest rivalry week in and week out is the golf course,” he told a press conference.

Scheffler is playing this week’s 3M Open in Minnesota for the first time, saying: “For me it was good scheduling: we had two weeks in the UK and three weeks off before the (FedEx Cup) play-offs didn’t seem like the most ideal way to set up my schedule.

“This is a tournament that I haven’t played before, so excited to be here.

“This might be my first time in Minnesota. I’m not sure if I’ve ever actually been to this state before.

“I’m excited to get the week started and yeah, play some ‌golf.”

Scheffler has not won a tournament of any stripe since January. He’s on top of the FedEx Cup standings despite that.

“One of the things I like in this game, one of the things that I’ve always kind ‌of prided myself on is the consistency,” he said.

“That’s something that shows that I’m playing some pretty good golf. It just hasn’t been quite good enough to win some tournaments.

“I haven’t played any great golf yet, but I’ve played some nice ⁠golf over the course of the season.”

Additional reporting: Reuters