AUGUSTA, Ga. — Bryson DeChambeau delivered one final scene-stealing moment before exiting stage left from Augusta National after Saturday’s third round of the Masters. His 50-foot bomb brought the two-time major champion within two shots of the lead and set the scene for an epic final-round pairing with Rory McIlroy. The only people more excited for Sunday than these two great players are the executives at CBS.
But it was another birdie about 30 minutes before that showed just how locked in Bryson was. Or, rather, his reaction to the birdie.
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After stuffing his tee shot to three feet on the 16th hole, DeChambeau watched playing partner Justin Rose three-putt from a similar distance. Unbothered by seeing that brutal turn of events, DeChambeau brushed in his birdie putt. And then he turned and gave an extended, steely stare at the patrons across the pond on the par 3.
Bryson just stared someone down after making this putt.
We’re not sure what went in to that, but he is absolutely locked in and relentless 😤
Don’t count him out. pic.twitter.com/o3qS0C3Y1d
— Tour Golf (@PGATUOR) April 12, 2025
So what was going on during that moment? DeChambeau explained after his round.
“Just getting the patrons going. Having a bit of fun with them,” DeChambeau said. “Makes me focus more. I don’t know. It’s a fun thing that whenever I feel like I feed into the crowd, especially the patrons here, it just … they give that energy back. And it’s a cool feeling, so I used that a couple times today.”
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Fair enough. And he certainly had fun with plenty more patrons as he seemed to high-five just about everyone at Augusta National on his way to the scoring cabin after completing his round of 69 that has him in great position to win a first green jacket.
But then something interesting happened minutes later when DeChambeau was asked the same question again. Most athletes would give the same answer or act annoyed. Instead, DeChambeau expanded, and revealed he was also sending a specific message to everyone watching—including the guy he was trying to track down on the leaderboard.
“Rory was kind of moving forward. He was at 12 under, and I was kind of chasing a bit,” DeChambeau said. “When I made that, I looked up and I said, kind of as a statement, like, you know what, I’m still here. I’m going to keep going. I’m not going to back down.”
Message received, Bryson. We’re still here, too. And we can’t wait to watch your next performance on Sunday.
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This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
