McIlroy proves the doubters wrong at Ryder Cup!

Alexia Popescu

On the 27th of September, Rory McIlroy and Team Europe won the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black, proving that his earlier proclamations about winning against the US were accurate! 

Who is this prominent man? 

Rory Mcllroy is a man who seldom needs an introduction in the face of the golf fans and there are good explanations for why. He achieved the career Grand Slam in the Masters Tournament, marking the apex of his qualification campaign and earning him a place on the podium as the sixth player throughout history to have won all four  Major Championships. (RoryMcllroy) This is seen in the golf world as something rather astonishing to accomplish. 

Ryder Cup - promise!

Two years ago, Rory proclaimed that the victory was in the hands of Team Europe, putting the United States’ Ryder Cup hopes at Bethpage Black on hold.(Keeps Promise)

“I’ve said this for the last probably six or seven years to anyone that will listen,” McIlroy said in Rome in 2023. “I think one of the biggest accomplishments in golf right now is winning an away Ryder Cup, and that’s what we’re going to do at Bethpage.” 

Mcllroy indeed executed his accomplishment by winning the Ryder Cup, however when reality faced the spotlight, the fans realised that the main contributors to the victory were his teammates who managed to cough up an unassailable advantage, allowing Team Europe to compete on the final day of competition. All of this happened despite Mcllroy’s failure. 

Rory may have lost because of the impending No. 10 hole, but he told the media that although he wasn't playing at his best, winning a Ryder Cup is about the team as a whole, not about one player. Scheffler may have won the battle, but he did not win the war. So yet again, Mcllroy took the podium for a news conference to validate to everyone that Europe won the Ryder Cup 15-13! 

“When you think about the last away Ryder Cup, about what people were saying about decades of American dominance, whether it was home for them or away, and to be able to do what we've done in Rome and then here, you know, it shut a lot of people up.” 

He sure managed to silence the people, albeit the fans were rather undue. 

Is the gentleman aspect of golf slowly fading?

The victory was thrilling, but moments during which the audience acted in a hazardous and disgraceful way, contributed to a short-lived thrill. 

Mcllroy endured awful treatment from the fans throughout the whole week, which included side remarks about his wife, his marriage and a recitation of other insults that according to him crossed the line. 

“I don't think we should ever accept that in golf,” McIlroy said. “I think golf should be held to a higher standard than what was seen out there this week.” 

And as Mcllroy said, golf unites people. It’s an ideal medium for life lessons, such as etiquette and playing by the rules and respect. So even though the brutal endeavors of the fans were disturbing, it was his team that was victorious at the end of the day!