{"id":522566,"date":"2026-04-10T02:34:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T02:34:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/522566\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T02:34:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T02:34:14","slug":"the-masters-bryson-dechambeau-humiliated-by-amen-corner-to-leave-hopes-of-another-rory-mcilroy-showdown-in-tatters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/522566\/","title":{"rendered":"The Masters: Bryson DeChambeau humiliated by Amen Corner to leave hopes of another Rory McIlroy showdown in tatters"},"content":{"rendered":"

It took only a few minutes and a few hundred yards for a new front to open in the battle between Bryson DeChambeau and Rory McIlroy<\/a> at the Masters<\/a>. After last year’s Sunday showdown – and all the sniping since – golf’s mad scientist had stoked the fire ahead of this latest trip around Augusta.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, he talked up their rivalry and said he hopes to ‘beat the living you-know-what’ out of the defending champion. So it was rather amusing who crossed his path on Thursday morning.<\/p>\n

Shortly after 10am local time, DeChambeau stood in the first fairway and lined up his approach. A few yards away, in a pedestrian walkway, a handful of observers were having a catch-up.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was innocent enough but they were making a bit of a racket \u2013 enough for a few angry women to turn around and loudly shh.<\/p>\n

Among the guilty party? McIlroy’s father, Gerry. His son was a couple of groups behind. DeChambeau didn’t appear too fazed by the noise. He certainly didn’t wobble \u2013 the American found the green and made a simple par to start his round.<\/p>\n

Instead, he unraveled a couple of hours later. His foe this time? Not a chipper Northern Irishman but a nasty greenside bunker and an old friend. It was painful.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Bryson <\/p>\n

Bryson DeChambeau shot a disastrous 76 in the opening round of the Masters on Thursday<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The American LIV Golf star made a triple bogey on the 11th and never recovered after that<\/p>\n

\"DeChambeau <\/p>\n

DeChambeau took three attempts to get out of the bunker before ending the hole with a seven<\/p>\n

The LIV star \u2013 one of the bookies’ favorites for the green jacket \u2013 had reached Amen Corner at even par. Not in much style, admittedly. But he was in the fight. Then his approach to the par-four 11th found sand and the carnage began.<\/p>\n

Twice DeChambeau failed to hack it out of the bunker. By the time the ball finally disappeared into the cup, DeChambeau had made triple bogey.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Twelve months ago, on Sunday alongside McIlroy, the American found the water on 11 and left with a double bogey that put another nail in his coffin. White Dogwood might just have ended his hopes of a green jacket once more.<\/p>\n

At least that is what the numbers say. And DeChambeau knows his numbers. He knows his history, too \u2013 the American prepares for Augusta by watching tape of old legends smoking it around this place.<\/p>\n

So no doubt he will be aware what the record books suggest: he is toast. At each of the last 20 Masters, the eventual champion has shot no worse than 72 in their opening round. After his meltdown on 11, DeChambeau carded a four-over-par 76. His fellow LIV rebels didn’t fare much better and – at the time of writing – DeChambeau is nine shots off the leaders, which include McIlroy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To add insult to injury? The Northern Irishman had outmuscled him off the tee, too. DeChambeau’s average driving length \u2013 338.7 yards \u2013 was good enough only for fifth.<\/p>\n

That wasn’t his undoing, though. DeChambeau revealed earlier this week that he is building new irons and a new driver. He said he ‘takes pride’ in his thirst for innovation and improvement. He also revealed that he had been trying out new wedges. ‘I figured a couple of cool things out,’ the 32-year-old said. ‘Hopefully it helps this week.’<\/p>\n

Amen Corner had different ideas. Whatever DeChambeau learned, whatever wedge was in his hand on the 11th, the result was grim. His first effort from the sand splashed up and landed a couple of yards away. His second rolled back towards him and ended up further from the hole. His third dribbled out and settled 15ft short of the hole. His double-bogey putt rolled 4ft past. Mercifully, the ball eventually dropped for a seven.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"At <\/p>\n

At the time of writing, DeChambeau is nine shots off the leaders, including Rory McIlroy<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The American now faces a real fight to make the cut and survive until the weekend<\/p>\n

‘The bunker was softer than I anticipated,’ he said afterward.\u00a0It was a nice reminder for us hackers that even the best and brightest can be humbled around here.<\/p>\n

But if this it for 2026, if DeChambeau can’t muster a miracle on Friday, if he misses the cut, then this tournament will be poorer for it.\u00a0‘I’m just going to give what the golf course gives me,’ he said in a terse press conference.<\/p>\n

By the end of this opening round the American looked beaten. His shoulders sagged and, in truth, his scorecard didn’t do justice to his struggles.<\/p>\n

The American reached the turn with one birdie, one bogey and at least one fewer ball in his bag. Shortly after his brush with McIlroy Snr, DeChambeau struck a tee shot into the trees and dropped a shot at the second.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He repaired the damage immediately and arrived at the 11th at even par after a series of missed chances and mis-judgements.\u00a0At the par-three sixth, for instance, his tee shot flew left and smashed a fan on the forearm before settling – rather fortuitously – near the green.<\/p>\n

DeChambeau apologized, shook his hand, gave him a ball. And then saved par. A few holes later, Augusta offered no such reprieve.<\/p>\n

He flirted with more trouble at 13 and 15 and 16. Eventually it cost him. At the par three, DeChambeau three putted from 56ft. He shook his head and trudged off. Not even a birdie at 17 could improve DeChambeau’s mood. Because at 18, he found sand once more en route to dropping another shot.<\/p>\n

Perhaps not all the you-know-what has been knocked out of him yet. On this evidence, though, that brush with Gerry might be the closest DeChambeau comes to a McIlroy all week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It took only a few minutes and a few hundred yards for a new front to open in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":522567,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[97,5904,76309,2623,217,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-522566","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-dailymail","9":"tag-golf","10":"tag-masters-tournament","11":"tag-rory-mcilroy","12":"tag-sport","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom","16":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=522566"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522566\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/522567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=522566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=522566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=522566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}