IN team sports, it’s easy to identify the heroes and villains. One plays for your team, the other one doesn’t.
The heroes wear your colours, the villain, on the other hand, whether they may be an outstanding, skillful, star of the game, maybe an upstanding citizen to go with it, in the eyes of their team’s biggest rivals, they become public enemy number one.
At the same time, sports needs good guys and bad. They pique our interest in the games played, put bums on seats, sell newspapers, attract television audiences and give analysts plenty to talk about. The media eat up rivalries and love to fuel the fire.
When it comes to golf, it’s harder to take sides.
The most recent winner of the Open Championship, Ryan Fox, is universally liked and respected. With the burly Kiwi champ, it’s reasonably straightforward.
For others, it’s not as easy to determine.
Let’s look at Phil Mickelson, for many years the smiling hero, these days despised by the majority.
Tiger Woods, in the conversation as the best there ever was, but a legendary figure who has tarnished his reputation in the eyes of many with his antics and actions away from the course.
Greg Norman. We loved him when he was winning and contending in the biggest tournaments around the world. A lot of us worshipped his abilities. Shark almost singlehandedly drove a massive golfing boom in Australia during his prime, but now many are unsure what to think after his backing of LIV at the expense of the establishment.
Throw in Wyndam Clark, Patrick Reed, not everyone warms to Jon Rahm and his intensity. Sergio Garcia perhaps the same. They are likely a lot closer to the ‘villains’ camp in the eyes of most followers of professional golf.
Then we have Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau. Both outspoken, immensely talented, must watch when at the top of their game, also a pair who polarise opinions.
Add to that, they have a relationship best described as strained.
It is rather obvious that the two don’t particularly like one another, a conflict which resurfaced again at the Open Championship. As to which one is the hero, who is the villain, the answer likely depends on which side of the fence you sit, the ‘team’ you support.
As good as World No 1 Scottie Scheffler is, and has been over the past couple of years, when it comes to getting people talking about the game, and/or tuning in when golf’s most significant events are taking place, McIlroy and DeChambeau are the number one and two needle movers.
The massive galleries at the 2025 Australian Open following Rory and the interest Bryson has helped to generate at LIV Adelaide over the past three years, not to mention the impact he has through his digital channels, evidence as to their popularity.
When Bryson won his US Open, he did it at the expense of Rory, and amidst his celebrations DeChambeau had little sympathy for his Irish rival.
While their head-to-head confrontations have been less frequent with McIlroy on the PGA Tour, DeChambeau playing on LIV, they did meet again, playing in the final group at the 2025 Masters. This time Rory came out on top, Bryson apparently couldn’t get a word out of his playing partner, who esponded saying he was too busy winning to engage in idle conversation.
At the Open Championship, it was on again, but from the proverbial ’10 paces’.
Bryson, and whether he deserved a two-shot penalty for allegedly improving the path of his swing, again largely hinges on whether he is your hero or your villain.
His actions however did leave him open to criticism, with his histrionics and actions on the Friday night of the Open, playing a role in delaying the release of the third-round draw.
And Rory took the opportunity to offer some ‘advice’.
He could easily have said nothing, or words to the effect of the R&A rules decision having nothing to do with him. McIlroy preferred to weigh in, calling DeChambeau “performative” for the act, then saying that he’s “not particularly fond of him.”
Until our newest Kiwi ‘hero’ lifted the trophy on Sunday night, and all respect to our own Lucas Herbert, the second-round leader, or to the likes of Sam Burns, who occupied positions at or near the top of the leaderboard, Bryson’s situation and Rory’s subsequent comments dominated the media coverage.
All publicity, most of the time, is good publicity. Was this the sort of attention that golf is craving?
As to the incident, come to your own conclusion, form your own opinion, pick a side, and that’s in relation to both DeChambeau, and if what he got up to in the long fescue rough was within the rules, or whether McIlroy needed to make comment. The long hitting Masters champ is a journalist’s dream, no doubt a man with a view on various topics and someone happy to express it.
We can now look forward to the 2027 Ryder Cup, maybe the Sunday singles when surely McIlroy representing Europe, tackles DeChambeau and team America. Lets hope that’s figuratively, not literally speaking.
Are they the heroes and villains golf needs? And whose side are you on?
The post Heroes and villains. But who’s who? first appeared on Inside Golf. Australia's Most-Read Golf Magazine as named by Australian Golfers - FREE.
Article Link: https://www.insidegolf.com.au/opinion/heroes-and-villains-but-whos-who/