Rory McIlroy’s life as a Ryder Cup player started with one of the more ill-judged quotes of his now storied career. As it turns out, it didn’t take long for that to change…
“It’s not that important an event for me. It’s an exhibition at the end of the day. Obviously, I’ll try my best for the team. But I’m not going to go running around and fist-pumping.”
Rory McIlroy’s words shortly before his Ryder Cup debut in 2010 made headlines on both sides of the Atlantic. But 15 years is a long time. In golf, it’s a lifetime.
The Northern Irishman has added more than 40 wins to his CV since then, including all four majors. He’s also put 18 points on the board in seven Ryder cup appearances. Only a handful of players – all European greats – have more.
As it turns out, it didn’t take long for him to reverse that opinion.
“Look, I watched Ryder Cups growing up,” he told the world’s media at Bethpage ahead of the 45th matches. “I cried when America won at Brookline. It’s not as if I didn’t feel something when I watched Ryder Cups.
“But I got into that team room at Celtic Manor and I just saw how much it meant to everyone. I was like, ‘Maybe I got this wrong.’ You start to see how much [it means] – especially for Europeans.”
The turning point in his attitude, McIlroy admitted, was down to the man who did more for Europe’s Ryder Cup cause than anyone else. The late, great Seve Ballesteros. Who else?
“I remember Seve was sick, and we had him on [a] conference call,” McIlroy recalled. “He’s speaking to the team, and we’re all in the team room. This is on the Wednesday or Thursday night, and I look around and the majority of the team is crying as Seve is talking to us.
“And I’m like, ‘That’s it.’ That’s the embodiment of what the European Ryder Cup team is. That conference call with Seve in 2010, was the moment for me.”
A decade and a half later, McIlroy is the most experienced player in a European team room that spans several generations from 24-year-old Rasmus Hojgaard to Justin Rose, 20 years the Dane’s senior.
“I’ve been so fortunate to have a long career and to play in a lot of these things and to play against players from different generations,” McIlroy explained. “My first singles match was against Stewart Cink in 2010. I played Sam Burns last time, and I don’t know what the age gap is there, but it’s at least 30 years, I would say, maybe 25, 30 years.”
Close. Twenty-three.
He continued: “It’s cool to have a long career and to span those generations. Even at breakfast, talking to Jose Maria [Olazabal] about Celtic Manor in ’10 and lying around the locker room for two days because we couldn’t get out on the golf course because it was so wet. Just little things like that that you can still share and you can reminisce a little bit, which is cool.”
This will be the Northern Irishman’s eighth straight Ryder Cup – but he knows it could come to an end at any point. Just ask his captain, Luke Donald.
“He went into the 2012 Ryder Cup as the No.1 player in the world, the leader, really, of the European team,” McIlroy said. “No one thought that was going to be his last Ryder Cup as a player. He certainly didn’t think that.
“So he talks to us about that all the time, about really trying to make the most of this opportunity that you have this week. And he is personification of that.”
Now McIlroy, as Robert MacIntyre put it, “is the leader” of this year’s team room.
“He’s potentially the greatest European golfer of all time,” the Scot added. “These things speak for themselves.
“I’ve looked up to him since I was young, and I’ve got no problem walking behind Rory McIlroy if he’s leading the charge. He’s a guy that’s special to the game of golf but very special to the European side.”
Viktor Hovland agrees. “How long have we got?” he joked when asked what McIlroy means to the European cause.
“He carries a lot of weight in the team room,” he added. “He’s very comforting to have there. He makes everyone in the team room feel good. And I think he brings out the best in everyone in there.”
And, just for good measure, his close friend Shane Lowry weighed in too. “To have one of the greatest golfers of your generation in your team room is pretty cool. Everyone feels very lucky to have him on our team.”
About the author
News editor and writer. Probably entertainer third.
He is a keen golfer who claims to play off 12 and enjoys traveling the world to try new courses. His three favorites are Royal North Devon, the Old Course at St Andrews, and Royal Portrush – with special mentions for Okehampton and Bude & North Cornwall, where he first fell in love with the game.
He uses a combination of Ping, TaylorMade and Callaway gear, and once bought the Nike SQ driver which he absolutely did not immediately regret.
