Rory McIlroy addresses wide array of subjects in Guardian interview

“It’s a weird thing,” McIlroy says. “I think it is the first time in my life that I have felt betrayal, in a way. It’s an unfamiliar feeling to me. You build bonds with these people through Ryder Cups and other things. Them knowing that what they are about to do is going to jeopardize them from being a part of that ever again? There was a great opportunity for GMac (fellow Northern Irishman Graeme McDowell) to maybe be the captain at Adare (Manor in Ireland) in 2027. Most of Sergio’s legacy is Ryder Cup-based, same with Poulter, Westwood.

“I would like to think the Ryder Cup means as much to them as it does to me. Maybe it does. But knowing what the consequences could be, I just could never make that decision. OK, it might not be 100 percent certain but that it could be the outcome? It just isn’t a move I would be willing to make. I thought they felt the same way.

“I feel like the place where they have been able to build their legacy and build their brand, they have just left behind. You could make the same argument about me, I started in Europe and went to America but I have always been supportive of the traditional system. If people felt so aggrieved about some things, I’d rather be trying to make those changes from inside the walls than trying to go outside and be disruptive.”