Rory McIlroy fires dig at the USA as Ryder Cup mind games begin

Rory McIlroy has claimed that the USA Ryder Cup team are "player-led" whereas the defending European side have "one figurehead" as the captain ahead of this year's renewal.

Europe head to Bethpage in September looking to achieve the rare feat of winning away. This millennium is has only been achieved once, famously at Medinah, but Luke Donald will lead a team looking to back up their success in Rome two years ago.

Donald has been given the rare chance to captain the team for a second time having done a stunning job at Marco Simone with the European players pushing for him to be given a second crack.

The Ryder Cup in Italy was dominated by Europe, who won 16.5 - 11.5, amid talk of in-fighting within the American camp. McIlroy, a veteran of the tournament since making his debut in 2010, has claimed that the Americans are often largely influenced by the players whereas Europe adopt a very different approach.

He said: “It really feels like it’s a player-led team in America, and obviously we have our input as players on the Europe team but we do have that one figurehead in Luke [Donald, the captain]. I think that’s important.

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“I think even going back to Rome, when the Americans got off to a pretty rough start, I think because Zach [Johnson, the 2023 US captain] gave the team so much ownership, they had no one to look to. They were looking at each other instead of having a focal point – ‘tell us what to do’. That is something that Europe have done very, very well. But also the players have allowed the captain to be a captain as well.”

The captaincy situation surrounding the American team has become a major talking point with Keegan Bradley, the man set to lead them in New York in a matter of months, enjoying some stellar form that has seen him rise to No 7 in the rankings.

He continues to win on tour and could end up qualify for the team on merit, which is a rarity. He is currently ninth place in the US standings and with the top six automatically qualifying. McIlroy claimed the former US PGA Championship winner could “absolutely not" do both roles given the responsibility on the captain.

The Masters champion insisted that the US are better off with Keegan swinging a club, not sitting in a buggy. “Keegan has had a great year,” he said. “I definitely think the US team is better with Keegan playing than not playing. I definitely think he’s one of the best 12 American players right now. It’s going to be an interesting couple months to see how that all shakes out.”

It has been suggested that Jim Furyk, the losing 2018 captain when the Ryder Cup was held in Paris, could step up, but Bradley has dismissed the notion of officially stepping down. Not since Arnold Palmer 62 years ago has their been a player-captain.