Rory McIlroy plays his shot from the 12th tee during a practice round of the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black.

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – Rory McIlroy can smile and laugh now at his naivete to the greatness of the Ryder Cup and what it would come to mean to him.

But in 2009, he went public with his indifference toward the Cup before he had even played a match.

“It’s not that important an event for me,” he said. “It’s an exhibition at the end of the day. Obviously, I’ll try my best for the team. But I’m not going to go running around and fist-pumping.”

As McIlroy prepared to make his eighth Ryder Cup appearance this week at Bethpage Black, he reminisced on when it clicked at his debut in Wales at Celtic Manor in 2010 for him that the Ryder Cup was special.

“I got into that team room at Celtic Manor and I just saw how much it meant to everyone,” he recalled. “I was like, maybe I got this wrong.”

The feeling was cemented that week when Spanish legend Seve Ballesteros, who was battling brain cancer, spoke to the team in the team room via a video conference call.

“This is on like the Wednesday or Thursday night. You know, and I look around and the majority of the team is crying as Seve is talking to us,” McIlroy recalled. “And I'm like, that's it. That's the embodiment of what the European Ryder Cup team is. I think that was the moment, that conference call with Seve in 2010, was the moment for me.”

McIlroy has experienced the highs and lows of the Ryder Cup. Four years ago, at Whistling Straits, McIlroy broke down in tears on Saturday after losing his third straight match and was benched for the afternoon session. His emotions showed how much he cared for the event. Two years ago in Rome, he exorcised those demons with a record of 4-0-1, the most points scored by any player for the week and his best showing at the Ryder Cup.

McIlroy already has enjoyed a memorable year with four victories, including the Masters, Players Championship and at home at the Irish Open. His singular focus has been to lead Europe to a road Ryder Cup victory, something he experienced in 2012.

“I love the continuity of this team. I love that 11 of the 12 are the same as we had in Rome and the 12th has the same DNA as the other one,” McIlroy said. “We've won before. I feel like it's been a really cohesive group for the last three years. We all know what to expect. We all know what our roles are within the team. I think that that has us prepared to give it a really good go this week.”

But McIlroy knows all too well the dirty secret about the Ryder Cup – it’s been a one-side affair with the home team winning six of the last seven Ryder Cups and they’ve hardly been close.

“Whatever team, whether that's Europe or America that is the one to break that duck, I think honestly is going to go down as one of the best teams in Ryder Cup history,” McIlroy said. “Winning another away Ryder Cup, just considering how hard that has been over the past 12 years, it would be one of the greatest accomplishments of my career for sure.”

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Rory McIlroy details how Seve Ballesteros cemented the importance of the Ryder Cup to him

Reporting by Adam Schupak, Golfweek / Golfweek

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