Cameron Young has revealed Rory McIlroy gave him the same treatment Bryson DeChambeau got last year at The Masters and largely ignored him during their final round together at Augusta.
DeChambeau appeared frustrated by McIlroy keeping his distance during their final day pairing at 2025’s tournament, with McIlroy later offering no apologies after finally winning the one major that had evaded him.
A year later and McIlroy wasn’t going to change his ways with another green jacket on the line and a shot at history. He duly became only the fourth man to defend a Masters title, following Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods.
He entered the day tied for the lead with Young, who eventually finished in a tie for third behind Scottie Scheffler in second. And despite McIlroy’s cold shoulder, the American said he understood the reason behind it.
‘I’m not one to talk a ton to begin with and I don’t think he really wanted to talk to me today,’ the American said.
‘[It’s] Sunday at the Masters in the final group – I don’t wish anything poorly on the guy, but we’re playing against each other. We’re not trying to be best friends out there.
Rory McIlroy shakes Cameron Young’s hand after winning the Masters at Augusta National
Young said that, like 2025, McIlroy didn’t have much to say to his partner during the final round
Bryson DeChambeau said McIlroy ‘didn’t say a word’ to him in their final round in 2025
‘It’s just one of those times, you kind of leave each other be and if there is a moment – there were one or two, but not many.’
It marked a different tone from DeChambeau, who almost seemed offended by McIlroy at the end of the 2025 tournament.
‘Didn’t talk to me once all day,’ DeChambeau said in the aftermath of McIlroy’s 2025 win.
When he was asked if he tried to initiate conversation with McIlroy, he only said: ‘He wouldn’t talk to me.’
McIlroy later insisted he would be the same with anyone – as Young’s experience now shows.
‘I don’t know what he was expecting,’ McIlroy said last May of DeChambeau. ‘We’re trying to win the Masters. I’m not going to try to be his best mate out there.
‘I was focused on myself and what I needed to do. That’s really all that it was. It wasn’t anything against him. It’s just I felt that’s what I needed to do to try to get the best out of myself that day.’
Whether his opponents like it or not, it clearly works for McIlroy, who is now a six-time major winner.
