Rory McIlroy’s tears at Whistling Straits were the one of the defining images of Europe’s heavy defeat, but the Grand Slam champions is desperate to right some wrongs
After Rory McIlroy hit his most recent Ryder Cup shot on American soil, a few of us approached him after he had shaken hands with the vanquished Xander Schauffele. He promptly dissolved into tears.
He had won his singles match at Whistling Straits but that victory had been preceded by three defeats in foursomes and fourballs. McIlroy’s misery in Wisconsin in 2021 was emblematic of Team Europe’s surrender on the banks of Lake Michigan.
Rory had not just been beaten three times, he had been pummelled – twice losing by a 4&3 margin and going down 5&3 in his opening match. For only the second time in his seven-event Ryder Cup career, he had been dropped for a session.
His anger and emotions bubbled over after the relatively meaningless singles win over Schauffele but there was also defiance.
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“I just can’t wait to get another shot at this,” he said after apologising to his team-mates for not being the standard-bearer they expected him to be. Of course, he got another shot in Rome in 2023 and everyone knows how pumped-up he was for that one.
But when McIlroy spoke about having ‘another shot’, you could not help thinking he was referring to ‘another shot’ at taking on the Americans in their own backyard after that 19-9 humiliation at Whistling Straits.
McIlroy was part of the team that pulled off the miracle of Medinah in 2012 but the crushing defeats at Hazeltine in 2016 and at Whistling Straits four years ago hurt him badly.
And from the moment Europe’s winning point was clinched at the Marco Simeone Club, McIlroy has repeated his claim that the hardest thing to do in team golf is win a Ryder Cup on opposition soil.
Individually, he has sorted the Grand Slam – now, one of his main career goals is to lead Europe to another Ryder Cup triumph in the States. And that is what will give Luke Donald’s team the edge when competition gets underway at Bethpage Black.
It is hard to believe that there was a time when a young Rory appeared to be indifferent when it came to the importance of the Ryder Cup. Now, there are few players who get as motivated as McIlroy does.
Make no mistake, how effectively McIlroy channels his emotion into his game will be fundamental to Europe’s fortunes in New York.
With 18 points in his seven Ryder Cups, McIlroy lies eighth on Europe’s all-time list.
His win percentage stands at 54.5, which is decent but not remarkable. He will certainly want that figure to be a lot higher when his Ryder Cup career comes to a close and over the course of the next decade, he will have his sights set on Sergio Garcia’s record of 28.5 points.
But for now, the fire in his belly comes from trying to banish the embarrassment he felt the last time Europe did battle on American territory. And a fired-up McIlroy will be the reason Europe retains the Ryder Cup.
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