Bryson DeChambeau has heaped praise on Rory McIlroy - calling him "one of the best to ever play" - despite edging out the Northern Irishman in a nail-biting finish to clinch the U.S. Open title. The dramatic showdown saw both golfers neck and neck until the very end, with McIlroy suffering a devastating bogey at the 18th hole to dash his hopes for a fifth major championship.
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While McIlroy made a swift exit from the course without speaking to the media or congratulating DeChambeau, the American golfer was generous in victory, expressing his admiration for McIlroy's talent and predicting his return to major wins.
"Rory is one of the best to ever play," DeChambeau stated to the press. "Being able to fight against a great like that is pretty special. For him to miss that putt, I'd never wish it on anybody. It just happened to play out that way.
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DeChambeau remains confident that McIlroy will break his major title drought, saying: "He'll win multiple more major championships. There's no doubt. I think that fire in him is going to continue to grow.
"I have nothing but respect for how he plays the game of golf because, to be honest, when he was climbing up the leaderboard, he was two ahead, I was like, 'Uh-oh, uh-oh.' But luckily things went my way today."
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DeChambeau has expressed his confidence in McIlroy's future success, stating: "Rory is going to do it. I'd love to have a lot more battles with him. It would be a lot of fun. But, yeah, Rory's going to do it at some point."
While McIlroy showed promise with three birdies in quick succession, DeChambeau's performance off the tee left much to be desired. Yet, when it mattered most, DeChambeau delivered an iconic shot under pressure, securing his second major triumph since his win at Winged Foot.
Sharing insights from his own experience, DeChambeau advised McIlroy: "For me, it was knowing how good my game is, how great of a place it's in, and just continuing to execute knowing the statistics would eventually fall my way. Still hope. Golf, it's a game of luck. There's a lot of luck that has to happen and go your way out there."
