After 48 holes played at Augusta National, it has all come down to golf’s two most well-known names. Rory McIlroy (-10) is looking to add a Masters win to his extensive list of career victories. Behind him is Bryson DeChambeau, the young, popular LIV star and YouTube personality. Both golfers have been playing immaculate golf throughout this Masters. They have both slowly started to pull away from the rest of the field, with McIlroy holding a 4-stroke lead over third place, Corey Conners, a 33-year-old Canadian, and a 6-stroke lead over fourth place.

Today is setting up to be the absolute stuff of Hollywood if DeChambeau is able to pull off the comeback once again. But let’s not forget the sour loss that McIlroy suffered last year at the 2024 U.S. Open, which saw DeChambeau win his second major.

McIlroy congratulated Bryson about a month after the U.S. Open, but they haven’t really been the best of friends.
“We’ve been fine,” DeChambeau said in a press conference on Saturday night in Augusta before heading to the driving range once again.

Most fans may be tuning in to The Masters for the first time tomorrow morning, and while everyone in the field has a chance to win, it just feels like it’s coming down to a heavyweight bout between Bryson and Rory. Today, I will be giving you a full player review of both Bryson and Rory so you can make your choice on who to cheer for today.

Rory McIlroy – (-10)

Rory McIlroy is an Irish golfer who spent over 100 weeks as the #1 ranked golfer in the Official World Golf Rankings. McIlroy is 34 years old, a four-time major champion, winning the U.S. Open and The Open Championship once each, and the PGA Championship twice. He is one of three players to win a major before reaching the age of 25.

McIlroy is looking to win the Masters for the first time in his career; his best finish in the event is second, back in 2022. McIlroy turned pro in 2007 and has a total of 43 professional wins across the European and PGA Tours.

In 2010, Rory got his first PGA Tour victory at Quail Hollow, beating Phil Mickelson by four strokes. The win came just before his 21st birthday.

Then in 2012, it was Rory’s year, and we were all just strapped in for it. He finished 2012 with five wins and his second major championship title. That year, he beat names like Tiger Woods and Tom Gillis. Despite his strong performance, he will always want to forget his performance at the Masters that year. Going into Saturday, McIlroy was holding his own; he was in third, just one stroke under the leaders. After a rough two days in Augusta, he finished the Masters in a tie for 40th.

In 2014, McIlroy won his first Open Championship and added a second PGA Championship to his shelf. The year didn’t start off pretty for McIlroy, though. He finished runner-up yet again in the HSBC Abu Dhabi Golf Championship. He received a two-shot penalty for taking an improper drop from a spectator pathway in the third round. He finished just a single stroke behind the winner.
“There are many stupid rules in golf, and this is one of them,” McIlroy said to reporters after the penalty was assessed and Pablo Larrazábal won the championship.

Another impressive moment in 2014 was the insane run he had. Starting it off at the 2014 Open Championship, McIlroy held the lead over Rickie Fowler to claim his first Open Championship. In his next start, he shot a 66 at the WGC Bridgestone Invitational to beat Sergio Garcia by two strokes. The following week, McIlroy held off Phil Mickelson by one shot to win his fourth major championship of his career and his second PGA Championship.

In 2015, McIlroy ruptured his left anterior ligament while playing soccer; this forced him to withdraw from the Open Championship, not allowing him the chance to defend his title. He made his return at the 2015 PGA Championship, where he made the cut but finished 17th.

Fast forward to today, McIlroy hasn’t won a major since then. McIlroy was very close last year at the U.S. Open, where he entered the final round in second place, three strokes behind the leader. He erased the deficit and held a two-stroke lead over Bryson. With four holes left, he bogeyed three of them and missed putts from less than four feet on the 16th and 18th holes. DeChambeau won by a single stroke.

McIlroy hasn’t won a Masters yet, nor a major in the past 10 years, but with how lights out he has been playing so far, he’s going to be insanely hard to beat.

McIlroy and DeChambeau tee off today at 2:40 PM ET.

Bryson DeChambeau – (-8)

Bryson DeChambeau, YouTube sensation, formerly the longest driver on the PGA Tour, two-time U.S. Open champion, will tee off tomorrow playing catch-up to McIlroy, something he is very familiar with doing in his Breaking 50 series on his channel.

DeChambeau made quick success in his early years on the tour, making his pro debut at the RBC Heritage and tying for fourth. He later qualified for the U.S. Open at Oakmont and the Open Championship, tying for 15th at the U.S. Open.

In 2017, he earned his first win in his 40th start at the John Deere Classic by a single stroke over Patrick Rodgers. Then, just a year later, he was celebrating yet again, winning the Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio. It featured a three-player sudden-death playoff against Kyle Stanley and An Byeong-hun. That sudden death showed everyone on the tour that he has ice in his veins.
Bryson continued to impress from that point forward, winning the Northern Trust, then the following week winning the Dell Technologies Championship, and then in November, winning the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.

DeChambeau, since entering the tour, has impressed golf fans, old and young alike. He’s brought a whole new audience of YouTube fans to golf. That is huge in this day and age. DeChambeau is 31 years old, with 15 professional wins and 2 major wins.

DeChambeau is looking to add a Masters win to his resume. It’s very weird to think of Bryson as the underdog here in this scenario, but that’s where we are at. Bryson will need to take the day slow and let the shots come to him. If he does that, he’ll be putting on a green jacket.