Ryder Cup talking points: Can Rory McIlroy improve poor recent record? Will Justin Thomas ‘stick it’ to critics?

Ahead of the Ryder Cup in Rome – live in full on Sky Sports from Friday – we look at the top talking points as Team USA look to win overseas for the first time in 30 years and Rory McIlroy aims to improve on a poor recent record in the event…

Can underdogs Europe make home advantage count?

In Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy and Viktor Hovland, Europe captain Luke Donald has three of the top four in the world rankings at his disposal for the tournament. Matt Fitzpatrick is currently ranked eighth as well.

However, Team USA are stacked with top-20 talent, while six of Europe’s team are outside those places in the rankings and four of them have never played in the Ryder Cup before – including Ludvig Åberg, who only turned professional in June.

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Of those who have featured before in Donald’s 12-strong squad, only Fleetwood (65.5 per cent), Justin Rose (60.87 per cent) and Rahm (56.25 per cent) have winning records in Ryder Cup matches as well.

Even so, the bookies only have the Americans as slight favourites for this year’s matches in Rome, while Europe have not lost a home Ryder Cup since the 15-13 defeat at The Belfry in 1993. Donald accepts the USA have an edge but is confident the Europeans can maintain their impressive home record.

“It’s going to be a very tough challenge,” Donald said. “I fully expect us to be underdogs, despite that home percentage of wins over the last 30 years.

“We have some hugely talented and in-form players, and we also have the motivation of trying to win back the Ryder Cup after what happened in Wisconsin [losing 19-9 in 2021 Ryder Cup].

“Our winning record in Europe is something we are clearly very proud of, and it is something we really want to extend.”

Will USA end 30 years of hurt?

The USA head into this year’s Ryder Cup as reigning champions, having wrestled back the trophy with a dominant win at Whistling Straits two years ago.

Their squad contains three of this year’s major winners too in Brian Harman (Open), Wyndham Clark (US Open) and Brooks Koepka (PGA Championship), along with world No 1 Scottie Scheffler and six other members of the top 20.

In total, American captain Zach Johnson has seven of the 2021 team back for this year’s challenge as well, as they aim for a first victory on European soil since 1993.

Johnson, who played on the USA team which won the Ryder Cup in 2016, is urging his team to embrace what they will face in Rome as they bid to end 30 years of hurt.

“I don’t know why we haven’t,” Johnson said. “There’s a lot of hypotheticals and theories that you can come up with. What I do know is that 2023 will be an opportunity of a lifetime, and that will be my message, pretty simple.

“Let’s embrace the difficulty. Let’s relish in the moment of being in Rome, competing in a sport you love, and representing a country that you’re from. I mean, that’s an opportunity of a lifetime. So that’s how I’m going to go about it.”

Will McIlroy end poor recent Ryder Cup record?

With six Ryder Cup appearances already under his belt – four of which ended in victory for Team Europe – McIlroy will be looked upon as a leader for the boys in blue. Don’t expect any Churchillian speeches, with the world No 2 vowing to “lead with his clubs” as he looks to get “blue on the board”.

Getting blue on the board is not something McIlroy has done a great deal of in the last two Ryder Cups. During the 2018 event in France he managed two points out of five, not that it mattered in the end with Europe running out convincing 17.5-10.15 winners at Le Golf National.

Three years later at Whistling Straits the Ulsterman picked up a solitary point from four matches, suffering heavy defeats in Friday’s foursomes and fourballs and then also in Saturday’s fourballs after sitting out the foursomes earlier that day.

McIlroy began Sunday’s singles with a 3&2 victory over Xander Schauffele but with Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood the only other Europeans to win their one-on-one matches, the visitors slumped to a 19-9 defeat in Wisconsin, the biggest loss for any side in a Ryder Cup since 1967.

McIlroy cut an emotional figure after overcoming Schauffele, talking through tears as he insisted he “should have done more” for his team-mates before saying “I can’t wait to get another shot at this.”

That shot comes in Rome and he comes into the event in excellent form, having only finished outside the top 10 once – a 16th-placed finish at the Irish Open earlier this month – since he came 47th at the Wells Fargo Championship in May. That run includes winning the Scottish Open.

McIlroy’s game is in good shape, then, but he is adamant he will also help Team Europe in other ways. “If I can lead by example and be the first one to the team room if there is a meeting, first one on the bus on the way to the course. Anything like that where I’m still doing all the things that you should do and not getting complacent, that’s the way I would like to lead.”

How much will LIV players be missed?

Westwood, Poulter and Sergio Garcia will not compete in Rome after their defections to LIV Golf, while US captain Zach Johnson chose to overlook LIV players including Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, and Bryson DeChambeau. The sole LIV representative will be reigning PGA champion Brooks Koepka, who earned a wildcard after narrowly missing automatic qualification.

Westwood and Poulter are Ryder Cup stalwarts – Poulter earning the nickname ‘The Postman’ for nearly always delivering in this event – but their only points two years ago came in the singles and at 50 and 47-years-old respectively, you could argue that they may not have been as integral as they once were.

Garcia is a shade younger at 43 and the record points scorer in the Ryder Cup with 28.5 points to his name, so his absence could be keenly felt for Team Europe. The Spaniard took three points from four in 2021.

For America, Johnson and DeChambeau could be huge misses – Johnson, in particular.

The former world No 1 won five points from five at Whistling Straits in 2021, completing a flawless tournament by defeating Paul Casey in the Sunday singles having recorded three victories earlier in the week with Collin Morikawa and one more with Schauffele. DeChambeau, meanwhile, collected 2.5 points out of three.

The great Jack Nicklaus says Koepka was the only LIV player that deserved a pick after a season in which he not only won the PGA Championship for a third time but also came second at The Masters.

US skipper Johnson says Koepka is “built for the biggest stages”, plus we know from his experiences with LIV that he is used to golf events that last three days!

Which rookies will impress for Team Europe?

There will be four Ryder Cup novices for Team Europe – but two of them have enjoyed themselves at Marco Simone Golf Club before.

Denmark’s Nicolai Hojgaard won the Italian Open at the venue in 2021 and then came seventh this year, while Scotland’s Robert MacIntrye triumphed in 2022, beating Fitzpatrick in a play-off as McIlroy finished fourth and Tyrrell Hatton eighth.

MacIntyre heads into the Ryder Cup off the back of missing the cut at the Cazoo Open de France last week, with his six-over-par second round featuring five bogeys and two double bogeys.

Another rookie, Aberg, will have his bouncebackability tested, too, after squandering a two-stroke lead at the recent BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, shooting a four-over 76 in his final round to slip from first to 10th.

The Swede, who won his first title earlier this month at the Omega European Masters but has never played in a major, has all the talent in the world but other elements of his game will be tested this week.

The fourth and final European newbie is Austria’s Sepp Straka, who added a second PGA Tour title to his CV at the John Deere Classic in June, came 14th at the season-ending Tour Championship, and recorded top-10 finishes at both the PGA Championship and Open Championship this season.

Speaking to Sky Sports News ahead of his debut Ryder Cup, Straka said: “It is crazy. Checking into the hotel yesterday and seeing all the stuff we would be wearing… the whole experience so far has been incredible.”

Will Thomas ‘stick it’ to his critics?

If Åberg’s selection for Team Europe was a little surprising, then perhaps Thomas’ for Team USA was, too, with the two-time major champion having endured a pretty horrid 2023.

He finished 15th in the US Ryder Cup standings after a season in which he failed to qualify for the FedExCup Playoffs and shot scores in the 80s at both the US Open and Open Championship.

Thomas says he was “very, very fortunate” to have been selected for the Ryder Cup but his record in the tournament is stellar, winning four out of five points in 2018, including beating McIlroy in the singles, and then adding 2.5 out of four in 2021. “You just don’t leave JT at home,” Johnson said when announcing the pick.

Thomas’ fellow PGA Tour player Billy Horschel expects him to “stick it” to anyone questioning his selection in Rome, saying he would not be surprised if the 30-year-old went undefeated.

“I expect him to have an unbelievable Ryder Cup. It wouldn’t shock me if he plays all five sessions and goes 5-0. Or four sessions and goes 4-0. He’s that type of player that loves that environment, loves that moment. I think he’s going to stick it to the people that questioned his pick.”

Thomas being involved will bring real spice to proceedings, with the man himself saying: “It’s a big difference the week of the Ryder Cup.

“I’m going to hate every single one of them [the European players]. I still respect their golf game. I respect them [but] I want to win really bad and I don’t like them.”

Live coverage from the opening day of the Ryder Cup begins on Friday from 6am on Sky Sports Golf. Stream the PGA Tour, DP Tour, Ryder Cup and more with NOW.

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