McIlroy says there's a reason he didn't talk to DeChambeau: He was trying to win the Masters

“He wouldn't talk to me,” DeChambeau said, a curious choice of words. It's not unusual for there to be not a lot of chatter in the final group of a major. By saying McIlroy “didn't talk to me” made it sound as though it was personal.

“I don’t know what he was expecting,” McIlroy said. “We’re trying to win the Masters. I’m not going to try to be his best mate out there. Look, everyone approaches the game different ways. Yeah, like 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.”

His best led to a playoff victory, a green jacket and the career Grand Slam.

Oh, brother

Two weeks, two caddies for Sepp Straka, a two-time winner on the PGA Tour this year.

Straka had to use a close friend, Drew Mathers, at the Truist Championship last week at Philadelphia Cricket Club. His regular looper, Duane “Dewey” Bock, was on the sidelines with a back injury that also will keep him out of the PGA Championship.

Next in line is someone who will look strangely familiar — his twin brother, Sam.

“It was already planned,” Straka said. “Dewey's daughter is graduating college on Friday, I believe. So my brother was already going to caddie Friday, Saturday. So it wasn’t a huge change of plans. We just told him he’s going to be going the whole week instead.”

Sam Straka also played at Georgia and was considered the better of the Austrian twins at one point. He also caddied for his brother at the Tokyo Olympics.

Sepp Straka said Bock had an MRI and is expected to be back to work at the next tournament.

Straka won the Truist Championship to go along with The American Express in January. The latest victory sent him to a career-best No. 9 in the world ranking.

PGA champions dinner

The PGA Championship has a dinner for past champions on Tuesday night, and this one had stronger attendance than most with 17 champions.

That included Dave Stockton, with the most history. His first PGA title was in 1976 at Congressional at 1-over 281, making him the last PGA champion to win with a score over par.

As usual, there were stories. Rich Beem, the 2002 winner at Hazeltine, was amazed to hear from Larry Nelson, a two-time PGA champion. Nelson won in Atlanta in 1981, and he beat Lanny Wadkins in a playoff in 1987 at PGA National.

“He said he won with four sets of irons — he didn't have the same set for the rounds,” Beem said. “And before the final round, he was on the putting green with two putters.”

A fascinating story, but maybe not for Wadkins, who also was at the dinner. Wadkins won the first sudden-death playoff in major championship history in 1977 at Pebble Beach.

The only two players in the field at Quail Hollow who were not at the dinner were Phil Mickelson and Brooks Koepka.

Viktor Hovland almost skipped the 2024 PGA

Viktor Hovland was so unhappy with his swing last year that he considered withdrawing ahead of the PGA Championship at Valhalla.

He wound up finishing third.

“I almost didn’t play last year, and I almost won the tournament,” said Hovland, who shot a pair of 66s on the weekend and finished three shots behind. “So it’s like I look at that as a huge win. I almost won a major championship without feeling good about my game at all. So I don’t look at that as, like, man, I’m lacking a bunch of stuff.”

Hovland had some similar struggles with his swing earlier this year and missed the cut in three straight tournaments, only to bounce back and win the Valspar Championship in late March.

Since then he’s made the cut three more times, his best finish a tie for 13th place at the RBC Heritage. And while the world’s 11th-ranked player still isn’t particularly thrilled with his swing, he’s in a better headspace entering this year’s PGA Championship at Quail Hollow.

“If I can get the ball consistently in the fairway off the tee, even though I don’t feel amazing, my iron play has been pretty solid this year,” Hovland said. “So I can still get the ball in the hole.”

Justin Rose the bridesmaid

Despite finishing second at the last two majors, Justin Rose isn’t getting much love from oddsmakers who have him listed as 100-1 to win this week, per Bet MGM Sportsbook.

Rose withdrew last week from the Truist Championship with an illness.

He lost to Rory McIlroy in a playoff at the Masters last month and finished tied for second at last year’s British Open. If Rose were to finish second at Quail Hollow, he would join Ernie Els (2000) as the only players in the last 100 years to finish as the runner-up in three straight majors.

In 2000, Els fished second to Vijay Singh at the Masters, and to Tiger Woods at the U.S. Open and British Open.

Rose’s only major win came at the 2013 U.S. Open.

Americans look to extend streak

Each of the last nine PGA Championships has been won by Americans.

The streak began in 2016 with a win by Jimmy Walker, followed by victories by Justin Thomas, Brooks Koepka (back to back), Collin Morikawa, Phil Mickelson, Justin Thomas, Brooks Koepka and Xander Schauffele. It is the longest such streak at this championship since a 10-year run from 1980-89, and the longest current streak of any major.

The last non-American to win the PGA was Australia’s Jason Day in 2015 at Whistling Straits.

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Sahith Theegala out

Sahith Theegala has withdrawn from the PGA Championship because of a neck injury.

Theegala is at No. 31 in the world ranking, meaning the field at Quail Hollow now has 98 of the top 100 players in the world. Billy Horschel had to withdraw last week to have hip surgery.

Theegala also withdrew in the middle of the Truist Championship last week at Philadelphia Cricket Club, an injury that now knocks him out of the second major of the year.

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AP Sports Writer Steve Reed contributed to this report.

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