Ryder Cup captain never considered axing Rory McIlroy

Thomas Bjorn insisted he had faith in Rory McIlroy turning around his poor fourball performance and never had any intention of dropping the Irishman from yesterday’s foursomes at Le Golf National.

Europe’s Ryder Cup captain saw the world number six struggle yesterday morning in a misfiring partnership with rookie Thorbjorn Olesen as the pair lost 4&2 to Dustin Johnson and Rickie Fowler. It would not have been a surprise if McIlroy had been benched for the foursomes, particularly after Bjorn had wrapped an arm around the four-time major champion after the morning defeat for a brief chat.