EMOTIONAL SCENES: Rory McIlroy fought back tears live on TV as Team Europe lifted the Ryder Cup 🏆 — a victory made even more powerful after he endured hours of vile abuse from the crowd.
Fans watched in silence as Rory’s voice cracked during his post-match interview… and it’s what he whispered about his late hero in that emotional moment that has everyone talking today 💔👇
Rory McIlroy chokes back tears live on TV as Europe win Ryder Cup despite vile abuse
Rory McIlroy cut an emotional figure during a Sky Sports interview live on TV after Team Europe won the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black in the USA.
Rory McIlroy cut an emotional figure live on Sky Sports (Image: Sky Sports)
An emotional Rory McIlroy fought back tears during an interview live on Sky Sports after Team Europe won the Ryder Cup 15-13 on a rollercoaster Sunday. The Europeans survived a thrilling fightback from Keegan Bradley’s Team USA at Bethpage Black as Shane Lowry ensured that Europe retained the trophy before Tyrrell Hatton’s tie confirmed an away victory in New York. McIlroy had to endure torrents of abuse and heckles across the weekend, some of which crossed the line, and was a relieved man to taste glory and vowed to party late into the night.
Choking back tears, McIlroy said: “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.”
McIlroy lost his singles match to world No.1 Scottie Scheffler, his first defeat of the weekend after three wins – and a half point – across Friday and Saturday’s foursomes and fourballs matches. The Masters champion endured mockery about his private life, family and chants of “f*** you Rory!” throughout the weekend at Bethpage with Europe captain Luke Donald accusing Americans of “crossing the line” on the second day.
After becoming only Europe’s second two-time Ryder Cup-winning captain after Tony Jacklin, Donald reacted: “That has to be the most stressful 12 hours of my life! A shoutout to the Americans, and Keegan Bradley’s captaincy. We knew they would be tough but we didn’t know they would be this tough.
“They fought so hard so respect to them. This means a lot to me, to the team. We came here knowing the task couldn’t be more difficult and I couldn’t be more proud of what these guys have gone through.
“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.”
Rory McIlroy enjoyed his celebrations on Sunday night (Image: Getty)
Europe went into Sunday leading 11.5-4.5 but before play began, the score changed to 12-5 with Viktor Hovland forced to withdraw due to a neck injury. Aberg was the only European victor on the final day by beating Patrick Cantlay 2&1 but ties for Matt Fitzpatrick, Lowry, Hatton and Bobby MacIntyre got the away team over the line despite a thrilling comeback effort from Team USA.
Lowry was the hero of the day, holing his birdie putt on the 18th to secure a half-point in his match against Russell Henley which retained the trophy. The Irishman reacted: “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.”
Team Europe have won back-to-back Ryder Cups under Luke Donald (Image: Getty)
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Losing captain Keegan Bradley admitted he would “have set the course up a little differently” if he could go back. He said: “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.”
Jon Rahm was similarly complimentary about his captain, saying: “Luke has set the bar for captaincy so extremely high. What he’s done in these four years I’ve been a part of is absolutely astonishing.
“He’s been so professional, so dedicated, so meticulous and well-organised. He’s the leader of the ship and led us the right way. The only thing left to say for a lot of us is ‘two more years!'”
