When Rory McIlroy revealed last month that he had been approached to be a playing Captain at future Ryder Cups it raised a few eyebrows.
At just 36 and seemingly the peak of his powers having completed the career Grand Slam, the idea that he would not be focusing all his energies inside the ropes seemed strange to some.
But the very fact the idea was floated shows just how vital a cog in Europe’s Ryder Cup machine the Northern Irishman has become.
This is a man who was once pilloried for calling golf’s biggest event an exhibition, comments he has since said he regrets and which he has proven he no longer believes numerous times over.
He arrives at Bethpage this week as the most experienced player on either side by some distance, having missed just one session since his debut in 2010.
That miss came on Saturday morning at Whistling Straits as Europe were scrambling for oxygen at 6-2 down and while he would return for the afternoon session, he would enter Sunday pointless after a third defeat of the week.
His tearful post-match interview having defeated Xander Schauffele showed his passion for the competition and his team-mates in the face of a record 19-9 defeat and two years later he truly became the on-course leader for his continent, winning four points as Europe wrestled the Cup back.
“I think in Rome it shifted,” Jon Rahm said of McIlroy’s Ryder Cup evolution.
“Whistling, unfortunately, it wasn’t the week for him. He wasn’t playing his best golf and when you’re playing bad, it’s very hard to still be there that way.
“But when it comes to Rome, he was him. He was the biggest name we have in Europe. He’s the better player we have in Europe and he’s definitely the biggest presence. That’s his role now.
ROME, ITALY – OCTOBER 01: Rory McIlroy of Team Europe lifts the Ryder Cup trophy following victory with 16 and a half to 11 and a half win following the Sunday singles matches of the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf Club on October 01, 2023 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)“He’s gone from obviously being an incredibly good player to a great Ryder Cup player to now being, I would say, the cornerstone that Team Europe needs.
“It’s special to have him around. He’s a heck of a superstar. My respect for his game only grows the more time I spend with him.”
Robert MacIntyre experienced McIlroy as a team-mate for the first time at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club but was quick to see just what he means to his team.
“He’s a leader,” he said. “He’s potentially the greatest European golfer of all time. I mean, these things speak for themselves.
“I’ve looked up to him since I was young, and I’ve got no problem walking behind Rory McIlroy if he’s leading the charge. He’s a guy that’s special to the game of golf but very special to the European side.”
For Matt Fitzpatrick, a man who is playing his fourth Ryder Cup alongside McIlroy this week and has been his playing partner, it is his passion for the competition that inspires those around him.
CHASKA, MN – OCTOBER 02: Rory McIlroy of Europe reacts on the eighth green during singles matches of the 2016 Ryder Cup at Hazeltine National Golf Club on October 2, 2016 in Chaska, Minnesota. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)“You’ve seen in the media over the last however many years how much the Ryder Cup means to him, particularly after what he first said about the Ryder Cup,” said Fitzpatrick.
“But you can see it every day in the practice we have, the discussions we have, his attitude towards the week and how important it is to him that he wants to succeed. And that obviously gets everyone else going around him and we want to be part of that.”
“He’s obviously a great player and very skilled, very experienced,” added Viktor Hovland. “But also he carries a lot of weight in the team room as well. He’s very comforting to have there. He makes everyone in the team room feel good. And I think he brings out the best in everyone in there.”
There have been many pivotal steps on McIlroy’s journey from Ryder Cup sceptic to Team Europe talisman and the biggest of them that the public have seen have come in away Ryder Cups: the Miracle at Medinah, his epic singles battle with Patrick Reed at Hazeltine and the tears at Whistling Straits.
But for the man himself it all began in the team room at Celtic Manor before a ball was hit, and with perhaps the greatest European Ryder Cupper of them all.
“I watched Ryder Cups growing up,” said McIlroy. “I cried when America won at Brookline. It’s not as if I didn’t feel something when I watched Ryder Cups.
“But I don’t know, I just got into that team room at Celtic Manor and I just saw how much it meant to everyone. I was like, ‘maybe I got this wrong’.
“I remember Seve was sick and we had him on one of those conference call things like back in the day. He’s speaking to the team and we’re all in the team room. This is on like the Wednesday or Thursday night. You know, and I look around and the majority of the team is crying as Seve is talking to us.
“And I’m like, that’s it. That’s the embodiment of what the European Ryder Cup Team is. I think that was the moment, that conference call with Seve in 2010, was the moment for me.”
McIlroy has said that a win this week would make 2025 the greatest season of his career.
He arrives in New York with 18 Ryder Cup points gained across 33 matches.
Another three will take him past Vice Captain and Medinah skipper José María Olazábal and should he join the immortals and win five, he will pass Ballesteros’ 22½ points.
NEWPORT, WALES – SEPTEMBER 30: Rory McIlroy of Europe chips during a practice round prior to the 2010 Ryder Cup at the Celtic Manor Resort on September 30, 2010 in Newport, Wales. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)He will need another 11 points in his Ryder Cup career to pass Sergio Garcia as top-scorer but for now, his focus is on Bethpage.
“Basically since 2012, you look at the results of the Ryder Cup, the home team has won every time,” he said. “But they also have won convincingly. 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 duck, I think honestly is going to go down as one of the best teams in Ryder Cup history.
“And Luke said it in his opening remarks yesterday 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 Team are.
“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.”
How great McIlroy’s Ryder Cup legacy will be could be decided on Sunday.