Heartbreak, silent treatment, driver duels and trades in triumph. Golf’s newest titanic rivalry threatens round three this week as Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau head to the US Open one year removed from Pinehurst theatre.

A despondent McIlroy could only watch on helplessly from the scorer’s hut last June as DeChambeau rescued a stunning par save to snatch US Open victory away from the Northern Irishman at the death of a dramatic Sunday.

McIlroy, hands on hips, turned away despairingly having witnessed the climax of his latest downfall on television, a blown lead and a dose of DeChambeau magic prolonging his agonising wait for his first major in a decade.

As all-too familiar pain haunted McIlroy once more, DeChambeau soaked up a raucous heroes’ reception from the North Carolina crowd amid his reinvention as an all-embracing fan favourite.

It would make for quite the contrasting image. Two powerhouse strikers of the ball – one something of a silent killer, one an animated and willing provider of golfing cinema; one something of an old-school flag-bearer for tradition, one at the heart of a social media generation.

If that represented round one, round two arrived across an enthralling week at Augusta this year as the pair delivered another epic en route to McIlroy’s greatest day. With it came spicier needle coincided by the sub-plot of PGA vs LIV tensions in teeing up a fascinating modern duel that carries into Oakmont this week.

What happened last year?

DeChambeau had taken a three-shot lead into the final day at last year’s US Open, only to see McIlroy reel off four birdies in five holes to leapfrog his counterpart and put him in stellar shape to clinch a first major since the 2014 PGA Championship.

Leading by two with five holes to play, McIlroy squandered par puts within four feet at the 16th and 18th while bogeying three of his final four to surrender the title and invite further scrutiny over his major championship misery.

His collapse was not without some DeChambeau brilliance, though, as the American summoned a 54-yard bunker shot from the golfing gods to land within four feet of the 18th pin, paving his way to a one-shot victory.

For DeChambeau it marked his second major win following success at the US Open in 2020, while for McIlroy it was his fourth second-placed finish, 11th top-five finish and 21st top 10 finish at a major since his 2014 triumph at Valhalla.

“Rory is one of the best to ever play,” said DeChambeau after the round. “Being able to fight against a great like that is pretty special. For him to miss that putt [on 18], I’d never wish it on anybody. Luckily, things went my way.”

So often McIlroy had been the unrivalled protagonist as a universally-admired face for the sport, willed on by all in his pursuit of golfing immortality. But this was to be DeChambeau’s moment and a picture of a remodelled character, his on-course explosiveness and engagement with fans warranting a new wave of support for a modern ambassador in his own right.

The two would meet again just a few months later when they competed at the Crypto.com Showdown as McIlroy teamed up with world No 1 Scottie Scheffler against DeChambeau and five-time major champion Brooks Koepka.

McIlroy welcomed another matchup with DeChambeau, suggesting he wanted to “get him back for what he did to me at the US Open”.

DeChambeau swiftly responded: “To be fair, you kind of did that to yourself.”

Cue awkward grimaces, cue Koepka laughter, cue a good-sport acceptance from McIlroy. But cue, perhaps, the start of a familiar back-and-forth.

Augusta silent treatment

Come April 2025, the two were going head-to-head once more after teasing another final day thriller at the Masters.

McIlroy began his third round two strokes behind halfway leader Justin Rose before carding a six-under 66 to top the leaderboard by two heading into Sunday. In the meantime, DeChambeau had birdied three of his last four, capped by a remarkable 48-foot putt at the last, to sit behind McIlroy in second and four clear of third-placed Corey Conners.

It looked for all the world like another McIlroy vs DeChambeau slug-fest was on the horizon, the American visibly fired up about the prospect of chasing down his counterpart, who was shouldering the unyielding pressure of finally completing the career Grand Slam.

While McIlroy laid out his plans to watch Bridgerton as a source of escapism on the Saturday night, DeChambeau instead favoured a James Bond movie. McIlroy insisted he would not “shy away” from the duel; DeChambeau insisted he would “not back down”. In some ways it was the perfect reflection of the varying demeanours and mindsets.

As it happened, DeChambeau did back down as four bogeys and a double saw him fall off the pace on the way to a round of 75 and a fifth-placed finish.

McIlroy meanwhile endured a roller coaster final round that saw him blow his overnight lead with an opening-hole double bogey, before recovering with four birdies in eight holes only to surrender a four-shot advantage over his final six as a final-hole bogey saw him card a one-over 73 to drop back alongside Rose on 11-under.

He made up for his mistakes moments later with a staggering show of mental fortitude to edge out Rose in a playoff at the 18th, landing his approach within three feet of the pin to set up the birdie putt that would prompt the release of years of pent up frustration in emotional scenes at Augusta.

DeChambeau, who did congratulate McIlroy on social media, had fuelled the duo’s budding rivalry as he noted how McIlroy “didn’t talk to me once all day” while paired together over the final round.

“He was just like – just being focused, I guess. It’s not me, though,” he added.

McIlroy instead alluded to a battle with himself as he sought to overcome the mental hurdles that had perhaps denied him Masters success until now.

“It’s such a battle in your head of trying to stay in the present moment and hit this next shot good and hit the next shot good,” McIlroy explained in his press conference. “My battle was with myself.

“It wasn’t with anyone else. You know, at the end there, it was with Justin [Rose], but my battle today was with my mind and staying in the present. I’d like to say that I did a better job of it than I did. It was a struggle, but I got it over the line.”

McIlroy’s silent treatment remained a talking point heading into the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow, where golf’s newest Green Jacket owner questioned DeChambeau’s remarks.

“I don’t know what he was expecting,” said McIlroy. “Like, we’re trying to win the Masters. I’m not going to be his best mate out there.

“Everyone approaches the game in different ways. I was focused on myself and what I needed to do and that’s really all that it was.

“It wasn’t anything against him, that’s just what I felt I needed to do to try and get the best out of myself on that day.”

How do they match up?

In contrast to their Masters battle, the two swerved another collision at the PGA Championship as Mcllroy stuttered through a disappointing week to finish tied 47th while DeChambeau came up short again in tied second five shots behind champion Scheffler.

McIlroy arrives having recorded victories at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, The Players Championship and The Masters so far in 2025, in addition to top 10 finishes at the Houston Open and Truist Championship. He has placed in the top 10 for six years in a row at the US Open, including back-to-back second-place finishes.

Across from him two-time US Open champion DeChambeau has placed in the top 10 in five of seven LIV events this year, including fifth in Miami followed by tied-second in Mexico City and victory in Korea.

Between them they are two of golfer’s most destructive strikers off the tee, McIlroy ranking third on the PGA Tour in driving distance with an average of 319.3 yards and DeChambeau leading LIV with an average of 333.3 yards – awaiting them arguably the most difficult scoring tournament of the four majors.

The two descend on Oakmont solidified as two of the most prominent, expectant and recognisable names in modern golf: Mcllroy a five-time major champion as just the sixth man to complete the career Grand Slam and the most vocal advocate for the PGA Tour amid golf’s fractured landscape since the introduce of the breakaway LIV tour; DeChambeau a two-time major champion as a man for the biggest occasion and one of golf’s most followed entertainers bringing the sport to new audiences like no other.

Scheffler is Scheffler, the slightly-subdued never-too-high and never-too-low unflappable No 1 whose talent and performances rarely stray from supremacy these days. And while McIlroy himself will always stake a claim as the best player to step foot on any golf course any given Thursday, it is the thunderous drives and the plot twists and the more assertive verbals and the proclivity for drama and the chalk-and-cheese personalities that make a DeChambeau duel so absorbing.

Who will win the US Open? Watch throughout the week live on Sky Sports. Live coverage of the opening round begins on Thursday from 12.30pm on Sky Sports Golf. Get Sky Sports or stream with NOW.