RORY MCILROY SAYS facing Bryson DeChambeau in a Ryder Cup grudge match would be “wonderful” after their verbal feud intensified this week, but he’s more concerned about Europe winning in America.
Europe talisman McIlroy, who won the Masters in April to complete a career Grand Slam, will lead the trophy holders against host United States starting Friday at Bethpage Black.
A war of words with American star DeChambeau began at the Masters, where two-time US Open winner DeChambeau vowed to chirp in McIlroy’s ear at the Ryder Cup.
McIlroy, a five-time major winner from Northern Ireland, said last month that DeChambeau, who plays in the Saudi-backed LIV series, can only attract attention by mentioning other golfers.
DeChambeau told Golf Channel on Monday that, “Whatever Rory says and whatnot is great. He didn’t mean anything by it. I hope we can have some good banter back and forth.”
McIlroy eased the spat on Thursday, partly on orders from Europe captain Luke Donald, but was clear he’d be fine facing DeChambeau this week.
“I promised Luke I would only talk about the European team today. I’m going to stick to it,” McIlroy said.
“It’s so easy to play into narratives this week and to get swept up in this whole rivalries and 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. That’s wonderful for the championship and wonderful for us, as well, in some ways.”
McIlroy and his teammates have a goal of capturing the Cup on US soil for the fifth time and ending a run of lopsided host Cup wins since the epic Europe 2012 “Miracle at Medinah” fightback road triumph.
“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,” McIlroy said.
“Since 2012, you look at the results of the Ryder Cup, the home team has won every time, but they also have won convincingly. It has been pretty one-sided either way.
“Whatever team, whether that’s Europe or America, that’s the one to break that duck, I think, is going to go down as one of the best teams in Ryder Cup history.
“We have a wonderful opportunity this week but we also understand it’s going to be very difficult.”
On the eve of his eighth Cup appearance, the most of any golfer this week, McIlroy is part of a team that returns 11 of 12 players from the triumphant Rome squad.
“It has been a really cohesive group for the last three years,” McIlroy said. “We all know what to expect. We all know what our roles are… that has us prepared to give it a really good go this week.”
– Striking a balance –
McIlroy says he is trying to find the right balance for engagement with spectators, who have already booed him with vigour in practice.
“At times in the Ryder Cup, I’ve engaged too much with the crowd, but then there’s times where I haven’t engaged enough,” he said. “So it’s really just trying to find the balance of using that energy from the crowd to fuel your performance.”
From cupping his hand to his ear and yelling, “I can’t hear you,” after making a long putt at Hazeltine in 2016 to being mellow at Whistling Straits in 2021, it’s a delicate touch.
“At Hazeltine I probably engaged too much at times,” McIlroy said. “And then Whistling Straits, I didn’t engage enough and felt pretty flat because of it.”
