Rory McIlroy was visibly emotional as he spoke to Sky Sports after Europe won the Ryder Cup 15-13 in New York, with the Northern Irishman vowing to party into the night
A visibly moved Rory McIlroy struggled to hold back the tears during a live Sky Sports interview after Team Europe clinched the Ryder Cup 16.5-11.5 following a dramatic Sunday showdown.
The Europeans weathered a spirited comeback attempt from Keegan Bradley’s Team USA at Bethpage Black, with Shane Lowry sealing Europe’s retention of the coveted trophy before Tyrrell Hatton’s halved match confirmed a stunning away triumph in New York.
Throughout the weekend, McIlroy had endured relentless heckling and abuse from the crowd, some of which stepped well over the mark, making his eventual victory all the sweeter as he pledged to celebrate long into the evening.
Fighting back emotion, McIlroy declared: “I’m extremely proud to be part of this team – of every single member, the vice-captains, the backroom support staff. This was an unbelievable collective effort. As soon as we won in Rome, we turned our attention to trying to do something many thought was impossible – not just win in America, but here in New York.
“It’s been an amazing week. To hear the ‘Ole Oles’ in America, to achieve something people said couldn’t be done after Whistling Straits – the talk of decades of American dominance – we took that and let it fuel us.
“We were so lucky to have someone as incredible as Luke Donald to guide us through this process. He’s been amazing. Eleven of the 12 players from Rome came back, we did what we needed to do – and now we’re going to celebrate like there’s no tomorrow.”, reports the Express.
McIlroy suffered defeat in his singles clash against world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, marking his first loss of the weekend following three victories – plus a half point – during Friday and Saturday’s foursomes and fourballs encounters.
The Masters winner faced relentless taunts about his personal life, family and chants of “f*** you Rory!” throughout the weekend at Bethpage, with Europe skipper Luke Donald slamming the Americans for “crossing the line” on day two.
“They have come together. They are playing for history, playing for people who came before them and now they will be talked about for generations to come. This will go down in history.”
Europe entered Sunday with an 11.5-4.5 advantage but before action commenced, the scoreline shifted to 12-5 after Viktor Hovland was compelled to pull out due to a neck problem. Aberg emerged as the sole European winner on the final day, defeating Patrick Cantlay 2&1, but draws for Matt Fitzpatrick, Lowry, Hatton and Bobby MacIntyre secured victory for the visiting side despite a dramatic fightback from Team USA.
Lowry emerged as the day’s champion, sinking his birdie putt on the 18th to claim a crucial half-point in his clash with Russell Henley, ensuring the trophy stayed put.
The Irishman reflected: “I’ve been so lucky to experience amazing things in this game, that was the hardest couple of hours of my life. Honestly. I just can’t believe it. I can’t believe that putt went in. I was just stood over it going, ‘Well, this is it.’ I said to Darren walking down to 18, ‘I have the chance to do the coolest thing in my life here.
“The Ryder Cup means everything to me, honestly. I won The Open in Ireland, it’s amazing it’s a dream come true, but the Ryder Cup for me is everything. To do that there today in front of everyone, it’s like…it was so hard out there. I mean, fair play to the US lads, like, we knew they were going to come out fighting.
“But yeah. I just hope one of the boys can get a half-point so we can get the win. Obviously we retain the cup but we want a win as well.”
Defeated captain Keegan Bradley confessed he would “have set the course up a little differently” given the chance to turn back time. He remarked: “We didn’t play our best the first couple of days but we did today. That was a really fun day. We had all our fun on one day.
“I really enjoyed doing this – I never thought I’d get to be a Ryder Cup captain. I will never forget it, it was amazing. Europe played better than us and deserved to win. They are a great team.
“In my eyes, Luke Donald is the best European captain of all time. I’ve got a real weird relationship with this tournament. A lot of heartbreak. But I still love it, and I love the guys. I love being out here again. I don’t know if I’ll ever get to do this again. I will remember this for the rest of my life.”
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