Rory McIlroy's Ryder Cup advice to the U.S.: Stop trying so hard
Task Forces, dramatized wild-card picks, special practice sessions. As Rory McIlroy sees it, the United States is trying too hard to figure out how to win the Ryder Cup.
The four-time major winner and new FedEx Cup champion gave some simple advice to the U.S. side three days before the biennial matches kick up again at Hazeltine National.
“Stop trying too hard and just play golf,” he said Tuesday.
The U.S. has tried to model its 2016 approach around how they perceive Europe comes together. Why not emulate the team that’s beaten you eight of 10 times? However, McIlroy said there isn’t some kind of secret sauce to gel the Europeans together.
“I think there comes a point where you try a little too hard,” McIlroy said. “As much as we talk about a blueprint in Europe, it’s not rocket science. We’re not thinking about it too much.”
It’s often hypothesized that the Europeans just get along better, making it easier for them to come together for a common cause. McIlroy more or less said that’s true on Tuesday, crediting the more collective nature of the European Tour for creating a culture that promotes bonding.
“The culture of the European Tour is just a little bit different in terms of we tend to socialize together a little bit more with each other,” McIlroy said.
“Trying to sort of really bond the team together is a great thing for them, but we’ve never really needed to do that. That’s always just been a natural fit for us, and a natural thing to do. Sometimes you can over-team it a little bit and try too hard instead of it just happening naturally.”
Maybe that’s just it. Europe has won three in a row, and there’s no reason for them to overthink the approach. They’re in the position the United States was more or less in until they lost the Ryder Cup on home soil for the first time in 1987 at Muirfield Village. There has to be some fear of complacency after winning six of seven.
However, Europe enters this week as betting underdogs. That’s largely the product of having six rookies — like they did, including McIlroy, in a winning effort in 2010 — and playing on U.S. soil against a team boasting 10 players with prior — albeit mostly losing — experience. Playing on Davis Love III saying that the American side might be the best ever assembled (he really said that), McIlroy said it’s not too hard to find motivation.
“I don’t think it’s hard for any of us to find motivation,” McIlroy said. “Whenever we’re going up against one of the best U.S. teams ever assembled, that’s motivation enough. How good a victory would this be if we went out and beat this team on home soil?”
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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