Rahm on Ryder Cup motivation: ‘There were very few players not shedding a few tears'

IN THIS TOGETHER: Team Europe's Jon Rahm during a press conference. Pic: Mike Egerton/PA Wire.

There is something in the air. At Whistling Straits two years ago, the Ryder Cup was so important to Shane Lowry that he started to cry. He didn’t cry when he won the Open. He didn’t cry when his daughter was born. He was crying again this week.

“Look, it has been an emotional week and even some of the stuff that has happened already this week would get you quite emotional,” he explained at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club just outside of Rome.

“I think being a part of something that is bigger than you or anything else is pretty cool and I think Whistling Straits was hard to take. But it was quite motivating for me coming away from that and it is quite motivating for me this week.

“Yeah, I am looking forward to going out there and hopefully earning some points for Europe and hopefully we can all do a great job at trying to win the trophy back.” 

In 2021 the Europeans were hammered 19-9 and it was in defeat that Lowry bared all of his disappointment. Ultimately it was a demonstration of how much the tournament means to him. Monday served another reminder of why it means so much.

Every captain has his own methods of getting the team to buy in and come together. Previously Paul McGinley’s meticulous preparation included filling the dressing room fish tank with blue and gold fish. 

He also had Alex Ferguson deliver an inspirational speech.

Earlier, Luke Donald explained his role was to ensure his team had good clarity on why they are here and how they will accomplish their goal. He had also stated that words weren’t necessarily required and they would do “certain things” during the week.

NOT A DRY EYE: Shane Lowry and Rory McIlroy of Europe on the first green during a practice round before the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome. Pic: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

Lowry later clarified that Luke Donald opted to show the team motivational videos.

“A lot of stuff goes into this week and there are videos that are played in the team rooms in the evenings, motivational videos, and just kind of hits home a little bit,” said Lowry.

“I am not going to elaborate much further than that, but Luke and his team have done a great job already this week on Monday and Tuesday.” 

Players were not willing to divulge what was in the video, however two-time Ryder Cup participant Jon Rahm said Lowry was not the only one shedding tears.

“I don't know how much of that they are going to post, so that is kind of personal for us. You have got very few people in those rooms because we have some individual videos and some collective videos. There were very few players not shedding a few tears yesterday afternoon. I can say that.

“It was a lot of family-related and the reason why all of us are here. I don't want to say too much more than that. But I think even for people that are related, it is going to definitely… If you guys were to watch it, it would make you feel a lot of the same emotions we felt.”