Basking in another Ryder Cup win while preparing for the DP World India Championship at Delhi Golf Club, Rory McIlroy learned a few lessons from the victory at Bethpage last month and bagged a few memories he’d rather forget.
“Just over the last two weeks, being able to watch the highlights and just see, especially those first two days, in the foursomes and the four-balls, how good the European Team were,” McIlroy said. “The Americans would hit it close; we hit it closer. The Americans hole a putt, and we hole a putt on top it and it happened every single time.
“The unfortunate thing is people aren’t remembering that, and they are remembering the week for the wrong reason. I would like to shift the narrative and focus on how good The European Team were and how proud I was to be part of that team to win an away Ryder Cup.”
McIlroy was 3-1-1 and participated in all five sessions to help Europe turn back an attempted U.S. rally on the final day of competition. Fan behavior was a topic in several corners of the golf world, and McIlroy’s family was subjected to a regrettable scene on the course in New York, where fans went from the typically raucous home-course crew to harsh, abrasive and downright offensive.
McIlroy agreed Wednesday with a question about whether the drive to raise capital and increase the fan base with new interest in the game has impacted the traditional buttoned-down culture of a sport with clear lines for etiquette on the course.
“It’s definitely changed. When it’s people watch sport for the gambling aspect and they put money on games, that is something that especially in America, that’s a changing landscape,” he said. “But I think at its core, watching sport, whatever that is, is still very pure, and it’s still pure competition. And I think that’s an amazing thing.
“But yeah, as an athlete, knowing that you’re going to get criticized for your performances — good or bad or whatever it is — I think at this point in time and in this modern world, that’s — I wouldn’t say it’s a price to pay but yeah, you just — it is what it is.
“I think athletes nowadays have to do a better job of blocking out the noise. So not going on social media. Trying not to read anything about yourself. Easier said than done. But I think the more athletes in this day and age, if they can do that, I think it’s better. I think it’s better for their performance. I think it’s better for their mental health, and I think it’s better for their longevity in a given sport as well.”
McIlroy is playing in India and the new India Championship for the first time. He said he’s watched tournaments on the course in the past and felt even more claustrophobic on the fairways experiencing the layout in-person, joking he would not likely hit his driver until he plays in Abu Dhabi next month.
“I don’t think I’ll hit a driver this week. I just don’t feel like the risk is worth the reward,” McIlroy said, noting the target distance on the longest holes on the course is about 250 yards. “I’d rather leave myself two or three clubs back and hit a 7-iron into a par 4 instead of hitting a wedge where if you just get it off-line here and the ball is gone. You’re hitting it into jungle and you’re not going to be able to get it out. You can rack up a very big number very quickly.”
McIlroy said he would like to be chosen to lead Team Europe as captain of their Ryder Cup team sometime, but not in the immediate future, and he gave kudos to the time, effort, energy and success of the current captain, Luke Donald.
“Certainly not 2027. I hope I’m still playing at that point. But yeah, I would love to be the European team captain at some point,” he said. “But that will be beyond my playing days, or at least when my playing days are coming to an end and I’m not good enough to make the team or I make way for the new generation to come along. Hopefully that’s not in 2027. Hopefully I’m still good enough to play and put points on the board for Europe. … I would love to be captain one day. I feel very fortunate that I’ve had a front row seat playing under some of the best captains in history in the Ryder Cup.”
