Rory-Bryson Full Swing episode is quote-filled. Here are the 18 most eye-opening

Rory McIlroy signed autographs, but the young boy wanted an answer. “The LIV Tour,” he said innocently, “what do you think of it?” McIlroy looked up. 

He shook his head. 

“I don’t like it.” 

“You don’t?” the boy asked. 

“I don’t like it,” McIlroy repeated. 

But we like the thought. No, we’re not picking a PGA Tour-LIV Golf side in this piece, but we enjoy hearing from the sides, and Netflix’s “Full Swing” series does well in facilitating that, with the exchange in the paragraphs above serving as an example. The show is mostly a year-in-review, but as it looks back, we hear from the parties involved. Most are also given the gift of time, so ideas are more complete than they’d be, say, minutes after the fact.  

All of that made me curious, then, how the third episode of the recently released third season would go. McIlroy would be featured, as would Bryson DeChambeau, their U.S. Open matchup and Scottie Scheffler’s arrest, which, arguably, were 2024’s biggest headlines. What would we hear?

A lot. So for this review, we’ll list the 18 most eye-opening quotes. They’ll be in order of appearance, except for the last one, which is the best one, for one very obvious reason. 

DeChambeau on Instagram 

2. This one came in Coral Gables, Florida, with DeChambeau. It was part of GOLF’s “Warming Up” series hosted by our Dylan Dethier, and DeChambeau and Dethier had this exchange:  

Said DeChambeau: “I, uh, saw you on Instagram. I see you don’t follow me. Appreciate that.” 

Said Dethier: “S**t, you don’t follow me.” 

Said DeChambeau: “I don’t. … I’m joking by the way.” 

Said Dethier: “Hey, consider yourself one Instagram follower up.”

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McIlroy on DeChambeau

3. This one came as McIlroy talked about DeChambeau, who’s experimented with his game in numerous ways, including once adding bulk in the hopes of adding distance.   

“I think, you know, scientist to jock,” McIlroy said, “I think there’s more scientist than jock in there.”

DeChambeau and Vince Lombardi 

4. This one also came during the “Warming Up” filming with DeChambeau. 

Asked Dethier: “What’s your dream season this year?”

Said DeChambeau: “A dream season would be to win every major. Give me a better scenario. What would be a …” 

Said Dethier: “Yeah. What would be a satisfactory season for you?”

Said DeChambeau: “Winning a major and winning multiple times on LIV. That’s why I love golf. It’s the pursuit of perfection. While knowing we can’t achieve perfection, we’ll achieve excellence along the way. Vince Lombardi quote, by the way.”

(Editor’s note: According to vincelombardi.com, the quote is: ““Perfection is not attainable. But if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence.”) 

Scheffler on giving birth 

5. This one came as Scheffler talked about his wife, Meredith, and the birth of his son, Bennett. 

“So wildly impressed that women are able to do that,” Scheffler said. 

McIlroy on his divorce announcement 

6. This one came as McIlroy talked about his divorce announcement, which came during PGA Championship week.  

“There’s parts of my life that I like to keep as private as possible,” McIlroy said. “Unfortunately in this line of work, that isn’t always possible. I’ve always tried to be protective of my loved ones from people that have ill intentions. I think it was a wake-up call for me to say, let’s just focus on the golf for a little bit. 

Scheffler on his arrest 

7. This one came as Scheffler talked about his arrest, which occurred before the start of the second round of the PGA Championship. 

“First of all, I was freaking out because I somehow went from driving into the golf course to a jail cell,” Scheffler said, “and I still don’t really know how that happened exactly. I don’t think it ever really felt real.”

Joel Dahmen on Scheffler’s arrest  

8. “I understand how it happens,” said Joel Dahmen, a fellow pro. “I completely understand. I have driven past security. I have flashed my badge. It’s chaos, especially when it’s dark.”

Ted Scott on Scheffler’s arrest 

9. “You know, it was just nuts,” said Ted Scott, Scheffler’s caddie. “But he handles himself in stressful situations so well. I’ve seen it. I’ve walked with him. I mean, the guy was in jail, stretching. Who does that, right?”

DeChambeau on tournament golf 

10. This one came as DeChambeau watched Xander Schauffele try to break a tie with him on the 72nd hole of the PGA Championship. 

“A couple early in the week,” DeChambeau said, “is what it always comes down to, right?” 

McIlroy on DeChambeau again 

11. This one came as McIlroy talked about DeChambeau in the context of DeChambeau becoming more fan friendly. 

“Bryson is exactly what the game of golf needs right now,” McIlroy said. “I would certainly like the opportunity to play against him a little more often if I could. You know, he’s made the game of golf more exciting this year.”

McIlroy on LIV again 

12. The LIV Golf quote that led this story came in November of 2023. This one came seemingly later in 2024.  

“I’ve basically went through the last two years with this like, altruistic approach,” McIlroy said. “I’ve sort of looked at the world in the way I’ve wanted to see it. But I think if I can put myself in a fan’s shoes, that’s sort of where my attitude toward all of this has sort of changed or has softened.”

McIlroy on the U.S. Open

13. This one came as McIlroy talked about what it would mean to win the U.S. Open. 

“Going into the U.S. Open,” he said, “I feel like I’ve reset. It’s the first major that I won, and it always ends on Father’s Day as well. And when I won, I had my dad there, which was really cool, and so, you know, it’s meant a lot to me. I’d love to get my name on that trophy again.”

McIlroy on his divorce being called off 

14. This one came as McIlroy talked about his divorce being called off, which was revealed during U.S. Open week. 

“Thankfully, everything has worked out for the best,” McIlroy said, “and we’re happy and moving forward and can’t wait for what lies ahead.”

McIlroy on Pinehurst’s greens 

15. This one came seemingly early in the week during U.S. Open week at Pinehurst, as McIlroy rode in a shuttle bus. 

Said a man in the background: “How was it out there today?” 

Said McIlroy: “It was good.” 

Said the man: “Are the greens as tough as everybody’s saying they are?”

Said McIlroy: “Professional golfers, they like to b**ch and whine a lot, so …”

McIlroy on, uh …

16. This one came as McIlroy got dressed in the Pinehurst locker room. 

Said McIlroy: “Feel like I’m getting dressed in primary school again, with a towel over it.”

Said a man in the background: “They’ll blur it out.” 

Said McIlroy: “Not much to blur out after the cold plunge.”

McIlroy on his U.S. Open finish  

17. This one came after the U.S. Open, where McIlroy missed short putts on 16 and 18 during the final round and finished a shot behind DeChambeau, the winner. Afterward, McIlroy left without attending a press conference. 

“I think missing that little putt on 16, which I hadn’t done all week, I feel like that putt sort of let Bryson back into the tournament,” McIlroy said. “If you treat it as so binary as winning is good and not winning is bad, it’s a career of torture. 

“As crushing of a defeat that I’ve had in golf, it was probably the toughest finish to a tournament I’ve ever had. So I probably just did everyone a favor by getting out of there. I didn’t want to speak to anyone, didn’t want to see anyone. I just wanted to get on the plane and go home.”

Tiger Woods answering … me 

18. Yep, that’s me, at the 8:59 mark. At the PGA Championship, I had this exchange with Tiger Woods:

Me: “As a dad who’s a golf professional, what advice would you have for Scottie Scheffler?”

Woods: “Get some sleep.”

Some additional info here, though. I’d asked that to several players that week — I like trying to find a question that gets players to open a bit, and I think how they answer it gives you a bit deeper look. But with Woods, I asked it twice. He didn’t hear it the first time. 

So I’m very thankful “Full Swing” didn’t include that.  

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