A 6-stroke lead heading into the final round sounds comfortable until you realize it’s Rory McIlroy chasing you. Standing on the brink of his breakthrough win on the PGA Tour, the rising star Jacob Bridgeman had every reason to feel the pressure. After all, he was paired with Rory McIlroy, who was closing in on him till the very last putt. Yet, he was somehow calm, and it was all thanks to a comforting gesture from the Northern Irishman that caught him off guard a year prior.

“Yeah, I definitely would say that day I was more nervous overall than I was at Riviera. So, I’m trying to make the tour championship my first year with the chance to do that. And I’m playing along, Rory, with thousands of people watching, but what I didn’t prepare for was that the fans didn’t care what I was doing, which was a blessing,” Jacob Bridgeman said on the Smylie Kaufman show.

“He was making birdies, whatever. They were cheering, and then when he got done, they were just moving on. They didn’t even care what I was doing. So, I had really no eyes on me, no pressure. And I ended up playing fine, playing, you know, getting through and securing my spot. But I think that gave me kind of a preview of what it is like with Rory. He was great to me. Super nice. Kind of comforting at times, which I didn’t really expect, but I appreciate it a lot.”

Bridgeman is speaking about his experience playing with Rory McIlroy at the 2025 BMW Championship, which features only the top 30 golfers on the FedEx Cup standings.

The rising PGA Tour pro turned professional in 2022 and got his PGA Tour card in 2023. However, by the end of the 2024 regular season, his FedEx Cup standing was over 100.

In 2025, Jacob Bridgeman was 27th on the standings heading into the BMW Championship. This meant he had a chance to finish in the top 30 and then play in the 2025 Tour Championship. And to top that pressure, he was paired with the 29x PGA Tour winner, who attracts a lot of the crowd. But as he revealed, Rory McIlroy was super nice to him, which helped him calm down and get a sense of what it is like to play with one of the biggest stars on the PGA Tour.

“But I think that gave me kind of a preview of what it is like with Rory. He was great to me. Super nice. Kind of comforting at times, which I didn’t really expect, but I appreciate it a lot,” Bridgeman continued.

It is that same comfort and experience that helped the American professional at the Tiger Woods-hosted Genesis Invitational 2026.

“I think I feel comfortable,” Bridgeman said about playing with Rory McIlroy at a press conference going into the final round. “I think if it was my first time [with him], maybe it would be a little unsettling, but now I’m not worried about it.”

Speaking to Smylie Kaufman, Jacob Bridgeman said that he was already imagining holding the trophy after his win. However,  he did acknowledge that he knew it was not going to be easy, and it wasn’t. The 2026 Genesis Invitational winner got really nervous when he saw Kurt Kitayama and Rory McIlroy closing in. But luckily for him, things didn’t go all that well for either of them.

“I think Kurt helped me a lot by not making some of those short putts that he missed. And then Rory played amazing and just didn’t get the putts to fall. They were just bouncing out. He was hitting awesome putts. So, a couple of those things went my way more than that overshadowed the ones that didn’t go my way for my putts and stuff like that,” he added.

A bunker shot by Rory McIlroy got him excited and nervous at the same time, though. On the 12th hole, the 5x major champion hit a bad drive. But he made up for that by hitting a 50-foot bunker shot for birdie. This helped cut the lead to four shots. Bridgeman called it the “most perfect” shot ever.

This was his second experience playing with an elite from the PGA Tour. It will most certainly help Jacob Bridgeman build more confidence in his game. For Rory McIlroy, though, the story at the Riviera was a little different.

Rory McIlroy on missing his 30th PGA Tour title chance

The Northern Irishman arrived at the 2026 Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club needing one win to reach 30 PGA Tour victories. He did reach very close, but couldn’t do it, as Jacob Bridgeman claimed his maiden title.

“I’ll rue basically all 18 holes yesterday and then the front nine today, like 27 holes where I failed to capitalize on the chances I gave myself,” McIlroy said in a presser after the loss.

He acknowledged that, despite having a big lead, a win is not certain in professional golf. However, it becomes easier when the closest pursuer, in this case McIlroy himself, isn’t doing anything.

As Jacob Bridgeman highlighted in his conversation with Smylie Kaufman, it was actually because of some good chances missed by Kurt Kitayama and Rory McIlroy that helped him secure his first PGA Tour title. The 2025 Masters champion said the six-shot lead stayed secure, as he missed multiple chances to close the gap.

McIlroy’s missed chances at Riviera may have cost him a milestone 30th title. However, they also highlighted how thin the margins are at the highest level of the sport. For Jacob Bridgeman, that same week reinforced a lesson he had already learned a year earlier. He is now comfortable playing with elite professionals and can compete with them without being nervous.