Ryder Cup win would turn Rory McIlroy's 2025 into year for the ages
Rory McIlroy partnered Shane Lowry in a fourball at Bethpage Black on Tuesday. Pic: David Davies/PA Wire.
Leading Europe to a first Ryder Cup win on the road in 13 years would turn Rory McIlroy’s unforgettable 2025 into a year for the ages. The man who may benefit most from such an outcome is adamant it can be done.
Luke Donald is bidding to become only the second European captain to win a second cup here on Long Island this week. When the curtain came down on an unforgettable first victory in Rome two years ago, a promise from McIlroy was one of the closing remarks.
“I think one of the biggest accomplishments in golf is winning an away Ryder Cup,” the Holywood man said then. “That is what we’re going to do at Bethpage.” As the European team got a first full, pillar-to-post feel for the iconic public course on Tuesday afternoon, McIlroy partnered close friend Shane Lowry in a fourball that was treated to the first chirps from the New York galleries. It was mostly good-natured but that vibe may shift, particularly if McIlroy and co. begin to bring that away victory into view.
“I think Rory has talked about this many times. He loves what the Ryder Cup represents. You can see the emotion both ways,” said Donald of his talisman, who has already completed the career grand slam and won a memorable Irish Open this year. “When he lost in Wisconsin the tears were flowing. How he felt like as the player he is, he's a leader for the team, that he needed to play better and he felt like he let himself down and the team. That's kind of the brotherhood we have in our team.
“Rory sees himself as a leader but also just one of 12. We try and talk about that a lot. We all have an opportunity to contribute to the team. To have someone of his caliber, though, what he's achieved in the game is tremendous.
“But for him, Ryder Cups are very, very important. He talked about how difficult it is to win an away Ryder Cup, and I think if he was able to be on this team, on a winning team, that would make this year even better than what he's already done.”
Justin Rose and Tommy Fleetwood joined the Irish pair to round out Europe’s first practice group. They wrapped up as the afternoon began to get steamy, temperatures heading towards 30C. While Donald’s Friday pairing plans remain unknown, an ugly forecast has caused some wider reshuffling.
The opening ceremony which was scheduled for Thursday has been moved forward to Wednesday afternoon at 4pm local time with all-day downpours due to come in on the eve of the tournament. Upwards of 50mm of rain is expected to fall which could make Friday’s opening a squelchy one.
Whether that affects the plans of Donald Trump to be on hand remains to be seen. World No.1 Scottie Scheffler took the opportunity Tuesday for some particularly fawning praise of the American President, whose bitter divisiveness clearly doesn’t resonate in the US team room.
“It’s been a tough few weeks for our country some of the stuff that's been going on,” said Scheffler, alluding to the shooting of far-right agitator Charlie Kirk. “To have our president here is extremely important for us.
“The president is kind of funny. He loves the game of golf, he loves supporting golfers, and I get a call or a text from him sometimes after wins. He's one of those guys when you're around him, he does such a good job of, feeding confidence into everybody around him. That was one of the things I noticed a lot with the little bit of time I spent with him. He treats everybody the same and treats people with the utmost respect… he treats everybody like they're the greatest person in the world.”
