An emotional Rory McIlroy had to fight back tears as he was interviewed live on TV after his singles win on Sunday in Rome.
McIlroy had just completed a 3&1 victory over Sam Burns to leave Europe within touching distance of winning the Ryder Cup. It followed a controversial spat with Patrick Cantlay’s caddie Joe LaCava the day before.
McIlroy’s singles triumph ensured he was Europe’s leading points scorer with four at Marco Simone this week in a stunning reversal of fortunes from Europe’s record 19-9 defeat in Whistling Straits in 2021 which left the Northern Ireland professional in tears.
But this time the seven-time Europe Ryder Cup member was emotional for all the right reasons after his heroics put the hosts on the verge of victory.
World No.2 McIlroy , 34, who picked up just one point at the 2021 Ryder Cup, said: “It means an awful lot. I was so disappointed after Whistling Straits. We all were. We wanted to come here to Rome this year and redeem ourselves a bit.
“To come here and get four points for the team means a lot to me. We’ve got some fresh blood on the team that I think has worked really well. I just knew that I needed to put in a better performance for my team-mates this week and thankfully I was able to do that.”
McIlroy and the European team were furious on Saturday though when LaCava took off his cap and waved it in the air after Cantlay made a vital putt on the 18th in the crucial last four-ball match to set-up a comeback win.
LaCava’s actions were considered poor sportsmanship as the Northern Irish golfer still had a putt to tie the match. Tensions then spilled over onto the car park with McIlroy heard shouting: ‘this can’t happen, this can’t happen – it’s a f*****g disgrace’ at the caddie. As a result, a security guard was forced to step in and calm things down before Shane Lowry guided McIlroy to a waiting car.
McIlroy admitted: “I let it fuel me. I didn’t let it take away from what’s been a fantastic week. I used that little incident last night to my advantage. In a way it gave us a little bit of a fire in our bellies to try and get the job done today. I just wanted to come out and win another point for…..
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