Rory McIlroy has already enjoyed “two of those big moments I live for” this year – and he would love to complete the hat-trick in this week’s Ryder Cup.
McIlroy says there have been only a handful of moments in his 18 year career when he earned the buzz that came with his play-off birdie to win the Masters – and his outrageous eagle putt to force a play-off at the Irish Open.
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He went on to win that Irish Open play-off at the K Club. Of course he did!
And he says that victory, his Grand Slam-clinching Augusta triumph, and winning the Players Championship in yet another play-off has made this his best ever campaign.
But he wants to crown it by spearheading only the third away win in the Ryder Cup in the last thirty years – all of them by Europe!
He said “I’ve put myself in those positions I found myself in at Augusta and the K Club maybe 15 times in my career, where I’ve stood over make-or -break putts with everything on the line.
“I’ve managed to convert maybe three or four of them. So to do it twice in the same year is quite something.
“I’ve faltered more times than I’ve succeeded. But that’s fine, because you’re never going to take every chance that comes your way.
“But if you keep putting yourself in those situations, sooner or later one of those big putts is going to drop. I’d love it if the next time it works out that way is at the Ryder Cup.
“Michael Jordan said the reason he succeeded so often was that he failed so many times – but he kept wanting to be in that position where he could do one or the other.
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“He could never make every shot, and I know I’m not going to make every big putt.
“It’s impossible to do that. But keep giving yourself opportunities, and the law of averages will work in your favour.
“In what I’d say is the final third of my career, those are the big moments I live for more and more.
“I know my time is limited, but I’ve still got a few good years left.
“And I work hard because I want to keep having those precious moments.”
McIlroy could also count two more play-off triumphs – both in huge events – as occasions when he really stepped up to the plate and hit the home run.
He buried winning birdie putts in overtime at the 2016 Tour Championship and the 2019 HSBC World Golf Championship event.
So the opportunity to hole the winning putt at Bethpage next Sunday would definitely not faze the world No 2.
McIlroy, 36, is also delighted that he and the European team are “in a much better place” than they were before their last trip to the States, in 2021 – when they were handed a record-breaking 19-9 hammering at Whistling Straits.
He added: “Yeah, 2021 wasn’t a great year for me. I felt a little bit lost with my golf game going into Whistling Straits.
“I didn’t play well at all there. It was the first Ryder Cup I was ever dropped for a session as well.
“I feel a lot different going into this Ryder Cup, on the back of what has been a career-defining year.
“And we are so much stronger as a team than we were four years ago.
“I think back to that Ryder Cup, and everyone was talking about it being the start of a decade of dominance for the Americans, and how strong they were.
“We were in a period of transition back then. But look at where we are now!
“In 2021 we had not even heard of Ludvig Aberg, Bob MacIntyre had not come through or the Højgaard twins, and so many others who were close to making the team but just missed out.
“I think, as well, as a collective, we’re in a much better place. We’re a lot more confident going into this Ryder Cup than we were going into Whistling Straits, that’s for sure.”
