Two years ago, after Europe won the U.S. at the Ryder Cup in Marco Simone in 2023, Rory McIlroy sat confidently on Dais and provided a prediction that it has responded throughout the golf world since leaving Italy.
“I’ve said this to everyone who will listen, for about six to seven years: I think one of the biggest achievements of golf right now is winning the Ryder Cup, and that’s what we did at Bethpage,” McIlroy said.
The Northern Irishman elaborated on another mark at the start of the season when he outlined the remaining goals he wanted to achieve in his career: Winning the Masters, Winning Olympic medals and Winning the far-flung Ryder Cup.
McIlroy signed his first game in April’s all-time victory at Augusta National. Then McIlroy finally got on the power of Mount Everest, a car of anticipated discomfort. But McIlroy once again found himself in the Open Championship at Royal Porthush, and his victory at the Amgen Irish Open reminds us of what he has been saying for some time: He doesn’t need to find motivation when events that matter to him come.
Although McIlroy once regarded the Ryder Cup as an exhibition, the biennial event is rooted in his golf soul as he has matured and grown to understand the importance of the event. So it’s no surprise that Paul McGinley, who served as strategy advisor to European captain Luke Donald in next week’s Ryder Cup, saw McIlroy’s lockdown on Bethpage Black during the team’s recent scout trip to Bethpage Black.
“Rory revelled in the last two and a half days,” McKinley said on a conference call this week. “He was in a very high state. With these guys, there was a joke, joke, being a person. Not being the big star Rory McIlroy who everyone draws on time. Golf is going to win the Ryder Cup.”
McIlroy didn’t back off his prediction that Europe would win at Bethpage Black. In an inspirational videotape sent to the Walker Cup teams in the UK and Ireland, McIlroy ended the game and promised to bring the cup back to Europe after a three-day duel at the People’s Country Club.
“As someone who plays the Walker Cup and can’t fully complete it, then keep playing the Ryder Cup and being able to beat the Yankees in their own backyard, there’s no feeling,” McIlroy said in the message. “Please beat them because I know we’re going to beat them at Bethpage.”
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McIlroy Guardian’s Ewen Murray. Murray asked McIlroy about DeChambeau’s plans if the two faced Bethpage, which led to a five-time major champion’s reaction if the two faced him.
“I think the only way he’s focused is to mention other people. That’s basically what I think. To get attention, he’ll mention me or Scotty or not. [Scheffler] or others. McIlroy told guardian.
This brings us back to McIlroy’s promise two years ago to beat the Americans at Bethpage Black. This is a clip that Captain America Keegan Bradley showed to his team. You could call it the American bulletin board material, but it could end up being a weapon in Europe by getting the best in McIlroy.
McKinley knows McIlroy well and has watched his star rise over the past two decades. He knows that when Rory McIlroy really wants something, the best version of Rory McIlroy usually comes. Given all McIlroy said about Europe’s chances of winning at Bethpage, McGinley believes that Europe will get McIlroy from Bethpage Black.
“The thing about Rory is that he’s always been a turbulent performer,” McKinley said. “Rory’s success and Rory’s career have never been straight. You can go through it. There’s a lot of downs in his career. You know, when he wins a big championship, he kind of leans. There’s a lot of downs in his career, and then he grows and grows. Rory is charismatic. Rory is a charismatic guy, and his risk is his risk because his risk is his risk. Style.
“Rorry’s personality comes in and out. He looks unparalleled, and then he looks like he’ll miss out on layoffs. But he’s back. But there’s one thing he can always say about Rory – we call him the pointy elbow of Ireland – when there’s something in his sight, he’ll usually show it in his perspective. He’ll usually show it in his identity, and in his sight, he’ll usually show it in his presence. He’ll usually show it in his presence, and in his sight, he’ll get better in his identity. He’ll get ready after seeing him for the last two and a half days.”
As for the announcement at the end of the 2023 Ryder Cup, McIlroy feels better about it now than he was.
“I might have more confidence than I was then,” McIlroy told Murray at the 2025 East Lake Tour Championship. “Obviously, I said in the joy of winning the Ryder Cup, but I think everything has happened since then; our team is shaping the way the game is, and Luke agrees to be captain again, with the continuity of the team, in this European form, especially for the event this year.
“If I compared it to the last two Ryder Cups I’ve played, I’d say we’re in a better place. I still believe we’re the underdogs, but more confident than we were in 2016 and 2021.”
Rory McIlroy’s back cup text may bite him next week at Bethpage Black. Perhaps McIlroy will end his year the way he started: adding a line to his Hall of Fame resume by calling out the best members of his game while cementing his promise of the Ryder Cup, part of his legend.
Either way, McIlroy’s words tell the story of a victorious European frustration or another housework victory for the Americans.
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