Rory McIlroy made an admission this week at the Ryder Cup. He said it is strange not having certain golfers not be part of the Ryder Cup because of their affiliation with the LIV Golf tour but stopped short of saying that they had a right to be there.
In fact, he said it would be them who would miss not being a part of this year’s tournament.
“It’s certainly a little strange not having them around,” McIlroy said of his former teammates. “But I think this week of all weeks, it’s going to hit home with them that, you know, they are not here, and I think they are going to miss being here more than we’re missing them.”
McIlroy is basically leading the European team with a bunch of unknowns going into the Ryder Cup. Meanwhile, the Americans decided to add Brooks Koepka to their team, increasing their chances of winning again.
McIlroy comes into this year’s competition with more confidence than he did back in 2021 when the Europeans lost to the Americans by a large margin.
“Coming into 2021, I felt like I was searching a little bit,” McIlroy said. “I didn’t feel in full control of my game. If you trace everything back, I got a lot of confidence and belief in myself that Sunday singles at Whistling Straits, because I certainly wasn’t believing in myself at that time. But the rest of my team did believe in me.”
We will see if the world’s No. 2 can lead his team to victory in Rome this weekend.
{ESPN}
