Chances are good that Rory McIlroy, the freckle-faced, bushy-haired, uber-talented star-in-waiting from Northern Ireland who won a professional event as a teenager and turned
20 this month, will be a force on the European Ryder Cup team for many matches to come. You can imagine the stink created last week when McIlroy said at the Irish Open that the Ryder Cup is “a great spectacle for golf, but an exhibition at the end of the day and it should be there to be enjoyed. I’m sure it’s a great experience. But in the big scheme of things, it’s not that important an event for me.” What in the name of Samuel Ryder is going on here The kid is young, sure, but doesn’t he know about the War on the Shore, those battles at the Belfry, Seve’s gamesmanship, Leonard’s putt, the Miracle at Brookline Isn’t he aware of the hype ratcheting up preposterously every two years, complemented by the pressure of players frantically, even foolishly (see: Perry, Kenny), doing everything in their power to join 11 of their peers and represent their homeland in a three-day dance that puts drama on display but not a dime in their pockets On the few occasions I’ve talked with McIlroy, he comes across as a typical young adult, interested in his golf, obviously, but also in music and malls, soccer and boxing, video games and American food. It’s been nice, actually, to see and hear someone who has a wide range of interests and isn’t all golf, all the time. “I wasn’t trying to disrespect the Ryder Cup in any way,” McIlroy told the BBC this week. “It’s a great event, and it’s a great event for golf. But I was just saying I’d rather win majors, that was basically it. I know a lot of people would give their right arm to play in the Ryder Cup, and I wasn’t trying to say that I’m not going to play in a Ryder Cup, because I’d love to play in one. It’s just that it’s not one of my main priorities.” McIlroy was paired, coincidentally, with Colin Montgomerie in the first round of the Irish Open. Monty, who will captain the Euros next year when the Ryder Cup resumes in Wales, said after the round that the two didn’t discuss the matches, but added, “He’ll understand what it’s all about when he’s part of it.” The Ryder Cup is a competition, plain and simple. In the individual world of professional golf it’s a unique event, teaming together guys who for the other 51 weeks a year are competing against fellow tour pros and trying to stomp on anyone who comes in their path, friends and foes alike. The Ryder Cup gives us matching outfits, flags, face paint, emotion, camaraderie, and “Olé, olé, olé, olé!”
Woods was also part of a group, including Mark O’Meara, David Duval, and Phil Mickelson, who pressured the PGA of America before the 1999 matches at The Country Club into directing some of their Ryder Cup profits to the players, who would designate a charity to receive that money.