Rory McIlroy aimed a cheeky jibe at Tommy Fleetwood at the Ryder Cup as the Northern Irishman referenced the £8million his team-mate recently secured at the Tour Championship
Jarrod Castillo and Kasra Moradi Senior Sports Journalist
07:40, 29 Sep 2025
Rory McIlroy couldn’t resist a comment aimed at Tommy Fleetwood after the Ryder Cup(Image: Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Rory McIlroy couldn’t resist making a comment about Tommy Fleetwood after his team-mate celebrated a Ryder Cup win to go alongside his recent Tour Championship triumph. Not long before the pair celebrated their Ryder Cup victory at Bethpage Black, Fleetwood had been celebrating in Georgia after claiming the final FedExCup playoff event.
The Englishman not only secured his maiden PGA Tour win but also banked the whopping £8million top prize. During the post-Ryder Cup press conference, McIlroy couldn’t help but make a joke about Fleetwood’s lucrative weekend in New York.
It came in the same media session where McIlroy delivered a passionate response about his wife Erica Stoll’s gruelling Ryder Cup experience. When asked how it felt to stick it to the rowdy fans in New York having put a shot two feet from the hole, McIlroy bluntly said (via the Mirror US): “Very f***ing satisfying.”
Fleetwood, his playing partner who had to finish the hole, then added, “It wasn’t stiff. It wasn’t stiff. I had to putt it,” before laughing with his team-mates. When he was asked what he saw, he replied: “Right centre. Pushed it in the right centre.”
Upon hearing that response, McIlroy had a quick quip: “Too busy counting all that money from the FedEx Cup.” Despite sharing a joke about Fleetwood and his recent success, McIlroy praised captain Luke Donald’s leadership as well as how his team-mates responded to Team USA’s fierce comeback on the final day.
“We got so lucky in getting an incredible leader in Luke Donald. He shepherded us through this process and he’s been absolutely amazing. A lot of the credit has to go to him,” he said.
Fleetwood stepped up for Team Europe at Bethpage Black(Image: Richard Heathcote, Getty Images)
“Eleven of the twelve players from Rome came back, we did what we needed to do — and we are going to celebrate like there’s no tomorrow.”
He went on to add: “I’m extremely proud to be a part of this team. I’m extremely proud of every single one of the players, the VCs, the captain, all the backroom support staff.
“This was an unbelievable collective effort, and as soon as we won in Rome, we turned our attention to trying to do something that everyone thought was impossible to do. Not just winning in America, but winning here in New York. It’s been an amazing week.”
Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood helped Team Europe retain the Ryder Cup(Image: Jamie Squire, Getty Images)
And while McIlroy wasn’t there to celebrate with Fleetwood in Georgia, being alongside the 34-year-old in New York with the rest of Team Europe helped make a tough week more bearable.
The 36-year-old particularly emphasised how being part of the Ryder Cup means far more than any individual achievement – it’s a collective effort to bring glory to the game.
He said: “Yeah, it’s been a really tough week. It’s been really tough. I felt I didn’t have much today. I didn’t feel I put up that much of a fight against Scottie. He wasn’t at his best either. If we were at our best, the level of golf would have been better.
“When you win a Ryder Cup, it isn’t about you. It’s about the team, and we did enough to get the job done,” he concluded.
