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THE RYDER CUP

September 26, 2018

Rory McIlroy

Guyancourt, France

STEVE TODD: Morning, Rory, welcome.

RORY MCILROY: Morning.

STEVE TODD: Your fifth Ryder Cup before the age of 30. Just start with giving us your thoughts on the week ahead and being part of this European Team.

RORY MCILROY: Yeah, I've been excited for this for basically since the last day in Hazeltine whenever we weren't the ones spraying champagne for a change. I've been excited for it. I really love being a part of the process. The dialogue I've had with Thomas over the past few months has been great, and seeing the team take shape and everyone that's played their way on, it's exciting.

It doesn't seem that it's been that long or this is going to be my fifth Ryder Cup, but they have all been wonderful experiences for different reasons, and I'm sure this time will be no different.

Q. In the times you've played in The Ryder Cup, what have you seen as the strength of Europe, and part of the twofold part, if this is said to be a strong U.S. Team, in your mind, what makes them strong?
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, I think that the strength of Europe has been we all get behind one another and even whatever differences we may have, we put them to the side for this week, and we're a cohesive unit, and that's the way we try to be.

I think that's obviously served us well for The Ryder Cups that we've, you know, had success in, especially in the last few years, going back to I guess The Belfry in 2002 and all the way through. Europe has had a pretty good run. Obviously there's been a couple losses in there, as well, which is to be expected. You're playing, you know, the best players, not just in America, but they are most of the best players in the world.

Obviously you're going to win some and you're going to lose some, and we've won a little more than we've lost the last few years. But as you said, the American Team is very strong. And I think, again, you know, the dynamic of the American Team has become a little more cohesive in the last few years, and I think that's to do with the younger guys coming on board and really embracing The Ryder Cup and making it a very important part of their careers.

You know, you've seen Jordan and Rickie and J.T. and those guys; they hang out together. They spend a lot of time together, and it seems like the togetherness is just a little bit more there than maybe it used to be back in the '90s and early 2000s.

Q. You've obviously played in big Sundays before, but was there any element of intimidation on Sunday?
RORY MCILROY: That East Lake rough was really tough, yeah (laughter). That was the most intimidating part about it. Started hitting a few drives left and right early, and I didn't actually have quite a good view from the trees on Sunday. I couldn't really see what was happening too much.

Q. Can you remember your first shot in a Ryder Cup on the first tee and can you talk about that dynamic, about how different that is, that feeling that goes through your body, and going forward, this is the largest gallery you're going to ever have on a first tee here. What do you make of this setup here?
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, good thing it's an easy tee shot. Celtic Manor -- I guess I didn't -- going into my first Ryder Cup, I didn't know what all the fuss was about. I still thought it was, you know, this team event that really doesn't matter in the big scheme of things. I was more concerned about individual titles and all that. Once I got on to that first tee on Friday morning, I thought, oh, this is a little different than I expected.

I was very nervous. Like I still get nerves on the first tee no matter what tournament it is. So that's something that maybe happens to me more than other people, I don't know. But it's nerve-wracking; you try and put your ball on that tee and it takes you a couple times to get it to settle on there, and I'm sure Friday morning, if I'm playing, it will be no different.

It's a huge grandstand. Playing a practise round yesterday, there was basically no people in it, and I still got goosebumps looking at it and thinking, on Friday, this thing is going to be packed.

I'm excited for that. It's become one of the very special things about The Ryder Cup is that first tee experience on Friday morning.

Q. When you hear that the U.S. has not won over here in 25 years, is that surprising to you? And secondly, what's the challenge, aside from maybe the crowd differences of playing on the road in The Ryder Cup?
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, I mean, it is surprising, 25 years is a pretty long time. I guess that's 12 Ryder Cups.

It is, it's tough. I think playing on the road is increasingly becoming more difficult with how partisan the crowds are and how the crowds get behind their teams, and that's all a part of it. It's the same thing in any other sport. You have road games that are very difficult.

Yeah, thinking back to Medinah in 2012, we were 10-6 down. It was a long shot that we were going to win that, and we ended up doing that, which was very special, but that could have started a run of home victories for each team. Yeah, it is tough, and the adjustments, I think not having that week in between to recover, coming straight from -- I think I counted something like 17 of the 24 players came straight from the TOUR Championship last week. So getting in on Monday, and obviously we have the extra day; we're not starting until Friday, but the journey over and then a little bit of jet-lag built in, all that sort of stuff; you need to do the right things, yesterday, today, tomorrow, to be able to play on Friday. I think that has a big part to do with it.

And then, you know, we do have a little more control of the golf course. The way Hazeltine was set up is not the way this is set up, which is not the way Medinah was set up. There is certain differences that you can try to do that play into the home team's advantage, I guess.

Q. I wanted to ask about one of the five rookies, Jon Rahm. You've played quite a few rounds, practise rounds, during the year with him. I believe there is even a fair chance you might even get to play together this week. Could you tell us what can we expect about Jon? Can he follow in the steps of the great Spanish players that have played so well in The Ryder Cup?
RORY MCILROY: I certainly hope so. You know, he definitely has the fire of a Seve. He's got that passion that the Spanish are known for. We've had this WhatsApp group going, all The Ryder Cup players and vice captains and captains for the last few weeks, and I've been pleasantly surprised at Jon's input into it.

I only met Jon a couple years ago, but the first time I heard of him was through the college system in the US. He lives in Arizona now, and he's obviously very friendly with a lot of the guys on the U.S. Team, especially the ones that live over on the West Coast. Tim Mickelson was his college coach, so he's very close to Phil.

To see how much he wants this and how he cares about The Ryder Cup and how proud he is to be European and to be Spanish and to really be a part of this, it's been really cool to see. I wasn't quite as vocal in my first Ryder Cup as he's been, but I wasn't as good a player my first Ryder Cup as he is.

So I'm expecting some great things from Jon this week. I played 18 holes with him yesterday. He seems to be playing really well. And if we do play together at some point, that would be something I'd really look forward to.

Q. Is there a general characteristic of a European Ryder Cup course or European Ryder Cup setup that makes it different from what usually see when it's in the US, or does it all feel just completely different every time?
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, I think it plays, you know -- you get punished if you hit it off-line. I feel like at Hazeltine, the punishment wasn't high enough if you hit it off-line, and I guess that sometimes plays into some of the American's hands, because they have guys that just hit it so long, you can stand up and -- and that's not -- like I'm probably one of those guys, so it doesn't quite play into my hands.

I think for the bulk of The European Team, they would welcome a setup more of this style. Not saying the American guys can't hit it in the fairways, they are all some of the best players in the world, but I think just looking at it, it would seem the style of golf course is more familiar to us than something like we saw at Hazeltine last time.

Q. You obviously had a close-up view of Tiger on Sunday. How much do you and the rest of the players relish the challenge of playing Tiger, and do you think -- bearing in mind he's obviously not had a great record in The Ryder Cup, do you think we might see a slightly different Tiger Woods, bearing in mind what he's been through the last few years?
RORY MCILROY: This week, he's one of 12. We're not looking at any individuals. We're just trying to beat the U.S. Team. It's great what he did on Sunday. It was great for golf. It brings a lot of excitement to the game.

I think to focus on one player is silly, especially when I might not even see him this week at any point this week because I mightn't be on the course with him or play against him. I don't really want to speculate how he's going to play or what he's going to do. I think it's great for the U.S. Team that he's in the mix, and it's great that it's given their team a little bit of momentum coming over here.

You know, we're looking to beat the U.S. Team. We're not looking to just beat Tiger Woods.

Q. You're obviously still clinging on to your 20s, and there's quite a few players in this team that are in their 40s, but do you feel that you're a leader again this time, and are you happy to take that role this week?
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, look, whatever the guys want me to do or whatever Thomas thinks my role should be, that's what I'm going to play. I'm sure I'll be one of the leaders. I think you have a lot of great players on the team that have played in a lot of Ryder Cups and will put their hand up to be one of the leaders and to try to lead by example.

Justin Rose, who was No. 1 in the world there just a couple weeks ago, FedExCup winner; Sergio Garcia; Henrik Stenson; guys that have played in a lot of Ryder Cups and have had a lot of success individually and in team events -- I'm just one of those guys. I'm 1 of 12. I'll do whatever I can to help the team, and I just want to get ready and get prepared so that when I tee off on Friday morning, I'm going to be ready to go and ready to play five if needed.

Q. Thomas yesterday was speaking about how Ian Poulter has this great rapport with the fans but that Sergio's strength lies in the team room. Can you shed light on that and what makes Sergio such a great asset for you in the room this week?
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, I think just everyone loves Sergio. At least in our team room.

He has been the heartbeat of our team for awhile, and he has been a constant, and I think a lot of these Ryder Cup teams, it's about continuity and about bringing the same mind-set to each one.

He's great. He's fun-loving. He likes to have fun. He never lets the environment or the atmosphere get too serious, and I think that's one of the big things about European Ryder Cups over the past few years. We've basically left any sort of egos at the door and no one's allowed to have an ego or, you know, even -- I know some of the guys talked to you about the video that was played for us the other night and some of the sketches and impersonations of all of us. I mean, it's brilliant. It great to be able to poke fun at yourself.

I think the more you can keep that atmosphere in the team room, the better, and Sergio is great at bringing that atmosphere into the team room and just bringing that dynamic to everyone else.

Q. Last time in Hazeltine, you had a great pairing with Thomas Pieters. How do you look back on that moment, and who would you like to have your new partner?
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, look, it was a weird one because Thomas and I didn't actually play a practise round together at Hazeltine. It was sort of a bit of a "throw us together at the last moment and see how it goes." We both know how we play the game, and our games matched up pretty well, and it seemed to work.

It obviously did work. We played great. We won the three matches that we played with each other.

Yeah, I'd love to find another partner that I could go so well with again this week. You know, I'm not going to give away who we are going to be playing with or our pairings or anything. You'll see who we practise with on the course each day, and you can figure it out from there.

Q. The adrenaline level in your match with Reed was clearly off the charts. Are you surprised you could play golf at that type of level when you were both so jacked up?
RORY MCILROY: I could play it for nine holes, and then it suddenly hit me. The level sort of declined after that and sort of reached its crescendo on the eighth green, and the last ten holes wasn't quite as good.

I look back as those videos and I look back at the last Ryder Cup. It wasn't just Sunday. It was Friday and Saturday. Surprised I had a voice left at the end of the week.

It looked tiring to have to play golf like that for three days. So I think I learnt a lot from that and learnt that, you know -- it's good to get excited and it's good to have that, but at the same time, if I need and have to be called upon to play a late match on Sunday or whatever it is, I want to have all my energy in reserve so that I can give everything for 18 holes because I did hit a wall that back nine on Sunday, and it cost me.

STEVE TODD: Thanks for joining us.

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