Rory McIlroy comes out swinging and shows LIV Golf battle scars are still raw as he says the likes of Sergio Garcia and Ian Poulter ‘will miss being at the Ryder Cup more than the players will miss them’

• The Ryder Cup will be without the likes of Garcia, Poulter and Lee Westwood
• They were among the players to defect to the Saudi-funded LIV Golf
• McIlroy says they will miss the Ryder Cup more than the players will miss them 

There was a moment on Wednesday at the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club when the audience stilled and Rory McIlroy addressed the lingering spirits of some of Europe’s Ryder Cup greats of the past as if they were in the room with us.

Europe might be playing against the USA this week on this sharply undulating course in the hills outside the Italian capital but it was clear that, in McIlroy’s mind, the absence of legends of this competition such as Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood meant that one triumph had already been secured.

If some of us miss Poulter’s panache, especially this week of all weeks, if some of us miss his unrivalled ability to wind up the Americans by guaranteeing victory and revelling in being called The Postman, because he always delivers, McIlroy is not among that number. The scars of the bitter struggle with LIV, the struggle he led, are still too raw.

‘A lot of water under the bridge in the last couple years,’ a journalist asked him early Wednesday morning when the fierce heat of the day had not yet taken hold outside, ‘but in this week of all weeks, do you actually miss guys like Sergio, Poulter and Westwood?’ It was a gentle question that invited a fond answer. It was an answer that never came.

‘I mean, it’s certainly a little strange not having them around,’ McIlroy said. ‘But I think this week of all weeks, it’s going to hit home with them that they are not here, and I think they are going to miss being here more than we’re missing them.

Ryder Cup legends including Sergio Garcia (left) and Ian Poulter (right) are absent

Rory McIlroy says they will miss the Ryder Cup more than the players will miss them

McIlroy (pictured with wife Erica Stroll) came out firing ahead of the Ryder Cup 

‘I think this week is a realisation that the decision that they made has led to not being a part of this week, and that’s tough. The landscape in golf is ever-changing and more dynamic, and we’ll see what happens and whether they will be part of it in the future.

‘I always thought leading up to this week is when it’s going to hit home that they are not going to be here.’

McIlroy gave a wry smile when he finished speaking. Two days before a ball has been hit in anger at this Ryder Cup, it felt like a victory speech.

It may be that this Ryder Cup draws a line under the civil war that raged in golf for more than a year between those, like Poulter, Westwood and Garcia, who defected to the Saudi-funded LIV tour and those, like McIlroy, who fought instead to protect the business model built by the PGA Tour.

An agreement of sorts has been reached now between the rival factions but the announcement of their merger did not come soon enough to alter the complexion of the Ryder Cup this year. There is only one player — Brooks Koepka — on either side from the LIV faction. For those still banished, as McIlroy pointed out, the pain of exile will cut deep.

But the absence of the old guard in the European side, both on the course and in the team room, also concentrated attention here on the fact that this is a team in transition and that McIlroy’s voice and influence is now louder and more important than it has been before. He is its leader.

But his Ryder Cup history is a complicated picture. He does not have an outstanding record. He has won 12, lost 12 and halved four of the matches he has played in during six previous appearances. He had a particularly miserable time at Whistling Straits two years ago and he vowed then that he would redeem himself in Italy.

His seniority and his achievements on the course over the years, as well as his forthright opinions, have earned him that right to be deemed the leader of the team in Rome even if several players on the European side have won majors a lot more recently than he has.

McIlroy is without a major victory since 2014 and as new stars like Ryder Cup rookie Ludvig Aberg come to the fore, there are more and more threats to his ability to add another to the four he has to his name.

McIlroy  fought to protect the business model built by the PGA Tour while the likes of Poulter, Garcia and Lee Westwood defected to the Saudi-backed LIV Golf 

The absence of the old guard in the European side means McIlroy will have a bigger influence

‘Paul McGinley in 2014 was really the first captain who I felt utilised me in a certain way or wanted me to do certain things,’ McIlroy said, ‘and ever since then, certain captains have asked certain things from me.

Rory’s Ryder Cup record 

Rory McIlroy has been on the winning side in four of his six Ryder Cups but he has a mixed individual record. 

2010 (Celtic Manor, won) Won 1, Lost 1, Halved 2 Pts: 2

2012 (Medinah, won) Won 3, Lost 2, Halved 0 Pts: 3

2014 (Gleneagles, won) Won 2, Lost 1, Halved 2 Pts: 3

2016 (Hazeltine, lost) Won 3, Lost 2, Halved 0 Pts: 3

2018 (Le Golf National, won) Won 2, Lost 3, Halved 0 Pts: 2

2021 (Whistling Straits, lost) Won 1, Lost 3, Halved 0 Pts: 1

Overall Won 12, Lost 12, Halved 4 Pts: 14

‘Again, I’m not there giving rallying cries and team speeches. When we came on the practice trip here recently, I said to every guy, “I’m older than people and I have more experience, and some of these guys have watched me play on TV, but I don’t want anyone looking up to me”.

‘I just want everyone looking at the side. I want them looking over to me. I don’t want them looking up to me in any way. I want them to see me like I’m on their level. And there’s no hierarchy on our team. It’s like we are all one part of a 12-man team and we all go forward together. I guess that’s the one message I’ve tried to relay to some of the younger guys on the team.’

McIlroy was also asked to address once more the fact that, 14 years ago, he had dismissed the Ryder Cup as ‘an exhibition’. He said that he had been too busy building his fledgling career to think about team events but now he was fully in thrall to the glories that the week brings.

‘I think in 2009, I was just so focused on myself and trying to get my career off the ground that I felt like I had sort of bigger and better things to achieve for my individual goals and stuff like that,’ McIlroy said.

‘I just didn’t put any emphasis on making a Ryder Cup team until I made one, and then you never want to be off one again. That’s the crux of it. So I love being a part of this team.

‘My most enjoyable moments in my career have been being a part of European Ryder Cup teams. I’m still very, very proud — and probably proudest — of the things I’ve done as an individual, but nothing — nothing, beats this week. It’s an amazing experience and I want to be a part of it for as long as I can.’

His message, clearly, was that playing the Ryder Cup was a privilege that no amount of money could buy. This week, he got his revenge in early. Now, it’s time to turn his focus to the Americans.

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