NBC on Yahoo SportsRory McIlroy: U.S. 'desperate' to win back Ryder Cup
Earlier this week the PGA of America rolled out its big-picture plan for future Ryder Cups by making only a few small changes.
Announcing that two of the four assistants must be former captains. Pushing back the date for automatic qualifiers. Waiting even longer for the 12th and final captain’s pick. Forming yet another committee that will consist of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Davis Love III and three PGA officers.
It was a big show for what amounted to only a couple of tweaks to the process, and Rory McIlroy was far from the only one who came away with the belief that the United States appears “desperate” to capture the Ryder Cup for the first time since 2008.
“It’s been said by a few players since we won at Gleneagles that it’s not rocket science why Europe has won the last three Ryder Cups and eight of the past 10,” McIlroy told reporters Wednesday, via ESPN.com. “I do get the sense the States, what with their task force and everything that came out in the announcement (Tuesday), that they’re desperate to win back the Ryder Cup. And I will say it again because it’s not that complicated why Europe has been winning.”
McIlroy also said the announcement that Love would return as captain came as a “huge shock.”
“But then I’m also surprised and I feel they’re overdoing it, with the setting up of a task force and talking about all the changes they want to bring in,” he said, according to the report.
McIlroy has only had a positive experience in the biennial matches, compiling a 6-4-4 record while being a part of three consecutive winning teams (2010, ’12, ’14). He was one of several players who publicly backed Darren Clarke, who last week was named the European captain for the 2016 matches at Hazeltine.
