There is a good reason why professional golfers stay in the moment, not wishing to look back too far nor to allow their minds to wander into the future.
Yet, as a soaked Rory McIlroy, his shirt sapped not from rain but from sprayed champagne, stood against a rail at Bethpage on Sunday evening and talked the talk whilst his European team-mates continued their celebrations on the putting green (which had become an unofficial party central), the world number two couldn’t help but mention the next edition of the match at Adare Manor in Co Limerick two years out.
“This is six [wins out] of eight. I would love to be a part of the team [in 2027] and make it seven for nine,” admitted McIlroy of a Ryder Cup career that is gold minted at this point in time.
Although Sergio Garcia with 28½ points remains the highest points winner in the Ryder Cup (since the 1979 records when Europe came into being, replacing the previous iteration which contained only players from Britain and Ireland), McIlroy’s 3½ points haul from Bethpage Black moved the Northern Irishman up to seventh in the all-time table on 21½ points, just half a point behind Nick Faldo and one point behind Seve Ballesteros.
RM Block
Come Adare Manor, where love rather than much of the hate that was unacceptably evident in New York will find its way to him, McIlroy will again play a leadership role with the prospect of moving further up that points table and augmenting an already stellar Ryder Cup career.
It is worth making a comparison between McIlroy and the two most dominant world number ones from the American side on their respective contributions: McIlroy’s record is 19 wins, 14 losses and five halved matches from his appearances in eight Ryder Cups for a 56.6 per cent return, while Tiger Woods (13-21-3) for 39 per cent and Scottie Scheffler (3-6-3) for 37.5 per cent are not anywhere close.
So, McIlroy – who admitted to “running on empty” in his Sunday’s singles against Scottie Scheffler after the demands of the first two days at Bethpage, where apart from playing four matches (two foursomes, two fourballs) he also was on the receiving end of that crowd abuse – has successfully managed to bring his game into a team environment.
As Luke Donald, the European captain, observed in the aftermath of back-to-back wins, following up the success in Rome in 2025: “You absolutely need your big guns to fire, and that’s what we are proud of, that the US big gun guys didn’t get as many points as ours.
“Rory has made no qualms about how important the Ryder Cup is to him, and I think that’s inspiring to me. It’s inspiring to his team. You know, maybe not quite on the same level as winning the Grand Slam and the Masters, but it’s pretty effing close. It really is. He’s talked to me about it many times, about how he [wanted] to win an away Ryder Cup and how difficult that is.
“To have someone of Rory’s calibre fighting so hard, that’s inspiring for the team. You know, obviously you can’t do it alone but it’s very helpful when someone like Rory is contributing like he does.”
This was McIlroy’s second away win – having also played at Medinah in 2012 – while also being an integral part of Europe winning sides at Celtic Manor (on his debut in 2010), Gleneagles (2014), Paris (2018) and Rome (2023).
Being part of a winning away Europe team was one of McIlroy’s season’s goals, in a year when he also ticked so many other boxes, including the Masters:
“I feel protected and I feel safe within this group,” claimed McIlroy of the team environment within Europe, adding: “Knowing that, it made it a lot easier and, then, I am so lucky in my life away from golf that I have an amazing wife, an amazing daughter, my parents are still healthy, so I have a lot of good things going for me away from the golf course too which I think just makes it easier to withstand whatever has been thrown my way.
“2025 will go down as the year of my career. I could win another Major again, another Masters, another whatever, but to complete the career Grand Slam and do this in the same year, win the Irish Open, it is incredible.”
Next up, in terms of the Ryder Cup, is Adare Manor. Two years and counting down.
Top 10 Leading Ryder Cup points winners (1979-)
28½ pts: Sergio Garcia (Played 45) Won 25 Lost 13 Halved 7
24: Lee Westwood (P45) W21 L20 H6
24: Bernhard Langer (P42) W21 L 15 H6
23½: Colin Montgomerie (P36) W20 L9 H7
22½: Seve Ballesteros (P37) W20 L 12 H5
22: Nick Faldo (P43) W20 L19 H4
21½: Rory McIlroy (P38) W19 L14 H5
21½: Phil Mickelson (P47) W18 L22 H7
20½: José María Olazábal (P31) W18 L8 H5
18½: Lanny Wadkins (P31) W17 L11 H3
