Rory McIlroy’s former agent dismisses Bryson DeChambeau rivalry as American brutally dug out

Rory McIlroy’s former agent Andrew “Chubby” Chandler believes the tension between the Northern Irishman and Bryson DeChambeau is good for golf, while also insisting the pair cannot be considered genuine rivals.

McIlroy and DeChambeau have endured a fractious relationship in recent years, notably at The Open Championship when the former labelled the latter as ‘performative’ and accused him of holding the tournament ‘hostage’ after DeChambeau received a controversial two-stroke penalty for “inadvertently improving his lie” in the rough.

Chandler, who represented McIlroy early in the Northern Irishman’s professional career, believes the animosity between the two is clear, but stopped short of describing their relationship as a true rivalry, arguing that DeChambeau’s major championship record does not yet compare with McIlroy’s.

Rory McIlroy vs Bryson DeChambeau

“Bryson obviously rubs Rory up the wrong way,” Chandler told BetVictor Online Casino. “They’re not mates and they’ve had a couple of head-to-heads. These things happen in all sports but I think it’s a good thing.

“There’s nothing wrong with rivalries, but I wouldn’t say it is a rivalry because Bryson is nowhere near as good as Rory is. If Bryson had won more majors and was in Rory’s face all the time it would be different but he’s not. His record in majors has been disastrous.”

Despite playing down the status of the McIlroy-DeChambeau feud, Chandler does, however, believe golf would benefit from more genuine rivalries at the top of the sport.

“Golf needs rivals. We had it with Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus. That was a proper rivalry. Golf needs that.”

McIlroy is currently preparing for the season-ending Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club, as he gets ready to battle it out with Scottie Scheffler and co for FedEx Cup glory – and a cheque of $10m.