HE’S a lover and fighter, a master golfer, car-park brawler, fairway singer and team-room p***-taker is Rory McIlroy.
Europe’s Ryder Cup triumph was a genuine team effort, with all of Luke Donald’s magnificent dozen making significant contributions.
Rory McIlroy was in celebration mode after the Ryder CupSportsfile
McIlroy was Europe’s top points scorer in RomeSportsfile
But McIlroy, the top scorer in the match with four points from five, was always centre-stage.
He described this success as ‘redemption rather than revenge’.
He had been so wounded by Europe’s record 19-9 defeat at Whistling Straits two years ago that he had broke down in tears.
At the start of this final day at the Marco Simone Golf & Country Club, McIlroy walked off the putting green and one exuberant fan urged him to “Give that caddie a whack, Rory!”
McIlroy smiled and waved, clearly not too perturbed by Saturday night’s altercation with Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay in the car park, after another American caddie Joe LaCava had enraged him with his premature celebrations following Patrick Cantlay’s putt on the 18th.
After he had defeated American rookie Sam Burns 3&1 as part of a strong start to Europe’s Sunday singles victory charge, McIlroy headed for the final fairway to join his team-mates.
There he watched on the big screen as Tommy Fleetwood secured Europe’s triumph on the 16th green — and the galleries urged “Rory, Rory, gissa song!”
McIlroy was soon leading choruses of “Championes, championes, Ole! Ole! Ole!”
And when the punters started a chant of “Patrick, Patrick where’s your hat?”, McIlroy responded by twirling his cap around his head.
A rumour had gone around that Cantlay refused to wear a team cap in protest at the fact players are not paid to play in Ryder Cups.
McIlroy said pointedly: “I don’t need to be paid to wear this.”
When his great pal Shane Lowry bounded down the 18th hole to complete his match against Jordan Spieth, McIlroy ran up the hill towards him and leapt into the big Clara man’s arms.
This meant the world to McIlroy — his fifth victory in seven Ryder Cup appearances.
Not just because of Whistling Straits, but because the last of his four Major victories came nine long years ago, and because he had spent much of the last couple of years as the unofficial leader of the European Tour’s resistance to the breakaway LIV Golf.
He lost friends in that bitter civil war, including Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter.
But winning back the Ryder Cup was one of the chief reasons that McIroy stayed loyal.
REVENGE MISSION
He may be a multi-millionaire resident of Florida but beating the Yanks, without receiving a dime in appearance money, clearly means the world to him.
Asked about ‘revenge’ for Whistling Straits, McIlroy replied: “The scoreline, 19-9, that hurt. It really did. I didn’t feel I gave my best performance there. I didn’t feel I did my part for the team.
“There were a few of us on that team that wanted to come back and everyone at the start of the week was talking about, ‘do you want revenge on the US team?’ This wasn’t about revenge. This was about redemption and showing what we could do.
“I’ve luckily been a part of a few winning Ryder Cup teams and it feels amazing but, at the same time, being part of a losing Ryder Cup team sucks, it really does.”
McIlroy and Justin Rose, the two most experienced players in this European team, were asked why Europe usually seem to have greater camaraderie than the Americans, despite not sharing one nationality and language.
Rose mentioned ‘a good pairing on the European Team doesn’t mean playing with your best mate’ — a barb at the Americans, who often take exactly that approach.
Shane Lowry lifts the trophy after the final day of the 2023 Ryder Cup
And McIlroy, 34, said: “The culture is huge. We take the p*** out of each other. We have a sense of humour. We don’t take ourselves too seriously. We feel we can be ourselves.
“Sometimes it’s hard because you are within a group, and they are making fun of you, but you’re getting made fun of in a good way and it’s appreciated and everyone has been good sports.
“But Seve (Ballesteros), Ollie (Jose-Maria Olazabal), the legends of the Ryder Cup came before us and we’re caretakers of this European jersey right now and we’re hopefully going to pass it on in the future in a better spot than where we found it.”
Europe seized a five-point advantage on day one and held the same lead at the end of days two and three.
But for a couple of hours on Sunday afternoon, it became seriously nervy for the Europeans — who began this final day needing just four points from 12 matches to regain the trophy.
At one point, the Americans were ahead in seven matches and sensing a sniff at a miracle.
Viktor Hovland, Europe’s most impressive player this week, McIlroy, the highest points-scorer, and Tyrell Hatton, who had the best points percentage of the match, all won impressively and early, along with Jon Rahm securing a half on the final green against world No 1 Scottie Scheffler.
That left Europe needing just half a point from seven matches still on the course — but for a while it threatened to be elusive, with all of those perilously tight.
Matt Fitzpatrick missed a ten-foot putt to halve his match with Max Homa, before Fleetwood secured the decisive half-point at the 16th, then saw off Rickie Fowler at the 17th, to spark those jubilant scenes on the 18th fairway.
And at the centre of it all was McIlroy — singing, dancing, hugging, laughing and knowing full well that redemption was his.