Rory McIlroy: Europe playing for history, legacy at away Ryder Cup

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. -- Rory McIlroy has made his home in the United States for the better part of 15 years. Most of his top golfing achievements have come in the country. His wife and daughter are Americans.

But McIlroy has won just one Ryder Cup on U.S. soil in three chances, and he recognizes what it would mean for Team Europe to break the streak of five straight Cups won by the home side.

The star from Northern Ireland spoke Thursday at Bethpage Black about the significance of an away win, both to him and to the wider continent.

"Basically since 2012, you look at the results of the Ryder Cup, the home team has won every time. But they also have won convincingly," McIlroy said. "You know, it's been pretty one-sided either way.

"So whatever team, whether that's Europe or America, that is the one to break that -- that duck, I think honestly is going to go down as one of the best teams in Ryder Cup history."

He then pointed to captain Luke Donald's remarks at the opening ceremony.

"Luke said it in his opening remarks (Wednesday), but we are here and we are playing for history and we're playing for the players that came before us and the people that basically laid the foundations for what the European Ryder Cup Teams are," McIlroy said.

"But we are also playing for the guys that are going to come behind us, as well, the young boys that are dreaming of becoming European Ryder Cup players. We want to try to leave a legacy for them as well."

McIlroy knows what it takes, and how it feels, to lift the Ryder Cup on American soil. Joined by Englishmen Donald and Justin Rose, also a part of this year's team, McIlroy led a Sunday comeback for Europe to stun the U.S. in a 2012 turnaround now known as the "Miracle at Medinah."

Since then, the host team has held serve in five straight: Europe in 2014, 2018 and 2023, the U.S. in 2016 and 2021. Teammates like Jon Rahm, Shane Lowry and Matt Fitzpatrick have yet to learn the feeling of a road win.

It largely begins with tempering the crowd abuse, which is expected to be at "chaos" levels at Bethpage Black, to hear Collin Morikawa tell it.

"I feel at times in the Ryder Cup, I have engaged too much with that, too much with the crowd," McIlroy said. "But then there's times where I haven't engaged enough. So it's really just trying to find the balance of using that energy from the crowd to fuel your performance.

"I can't tell anyone on the team what that balance is. They really have to find it themselves. But that's the challenge of playing away, right?

"You're not just trying to perform to your best level, but someone in the American team holes a putt, and then you have to try to follow them in. But you know, you've got the crowd going crazy and you're waiting for them to quiet."

The 36-year-old balked at the idea that winning this week has been his "singular focus" since 2023, considering he also had a 10-plus-year major drought to quell at the Masters last April.

"I've always said I'm proudest of my individual achievements in the game," McIlroy said. "But the most memorable moments and the most fun I've had in my career have been at Ryder Cup. So they are a little bit different.

"But I do think that, as I said, winning another away Ryder Cup, just considering how hard that has been over the past 12 years, it would be one of the greatest accomplishments of my career for sure."

He also tried to sidestep his growing war of words with American star Bryson DeChambeau, who has all but promised to chirp in McIlroy's ear this week, especially if they're paired together in Sunday singles.

"I promised Luke I would only talk about the European Team today. I'm going to stick to it," he said.

"... It's so easy to play into narratives this week and to get swept up in this whole rivalries and the Ryder Cup and whatever it is. All I want to do is go and try and put blue points on the board. I don't care who it's against. If I come up against Bryson at some point, I think that's great. I think that's wonderful for the championship and wonderful for us, as well, in some ways."

--Adam Zielonka, Field Level Media