Despite Rory McIlroy admitting odds in Team USA’s favor, Team Europe in “really good spot,” according to star golfer
Rory McIlroy will be heading to Rome for his seventh Ryder Cup with the European team later in two weeks. The Northern Irishman is currently at the Wentworth Club, Surrey, playing in the ongoing BMW PGA Championship 2023. He finished on T35 rank after the end of the third round on Saturday.
The United States team defeated the Europeans in the last edition of the biennial tournament in 2021. The 34-year-old golfer recently spoke in a Golf Subpar podcast on Spotify and shared his thoughts on the upcoming event in Rome.
He felt that their counterparts have been quite phenomenal in the past few years. He mentioned that the Americans have got great continuity because of playing in "cadence" at the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup.
"I think the American team have really turned a corner the last few years. I think the cadence of them playing Presidents Cup, Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup, Ryder Cup, they've got a really good continuity at the minute," Rory McIlroy said.
You can listen to the full podcast on Spotify.
However, Rory McIlroy was quite confident about the European team's prospects to win the upcoming 2023 Ryder Cup. He added that the United States had not defeated them in Europe in the last 30 years. He also felt that the team was "much better" than he thought eight months ago.
"But they haven't won in Europe in 30 years. So, the odds are - they're still the favorites if you look at the bookies, but at the same time, I'm feeling good about our team. I'm feeling much better about our team than I was maybe, say, eight months ago. So I think we're in a really good spot," McIlroy said.
"I think you have a home course advantage" - Rory McIlroy says playing at Rome would favor the Europeans in the 2023 Ryder Cup
The 44th edition of the prestigious biennial event will be played at the Marco Simone Golf Club in Rome. Both the team captains have announced their 12-member squad and all the vice captains list. Now, there are less than two weeks before the golf mega event.
While speaking on the Golf Subpar podcast, Rory McIlroy added that there would definitely be a home advantage for the European team in the 2023 Ryder Cup.
"I think you have a home course advantage for a reason. I've felt this for a while now, but I think one of the biggest accomplishments in the game right now is a team winning an away Ryder Cup."
Back in 2014, the European team defended its Ryder Cup title. Since then, there has been a trend of the title changing hands every edition.
Rory McIlroy mentioned that the last time any of the two teams won the title at an away venue was in 2012. So, he said that teams would do anything possible to defend their home soil, even in the future.
"It hasn't happened since 2012, and I just think you're gonna see this pattern of, the teams are gonna do everything they can to set themselves up for success. So if you look at what the Europeans do well compared to what the Americans do well, and these things are so analytics-driven."
It is pertinent to note that Rory McIlroy will be playing without European stalwarts like Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter, and Graeme McDowell for the first time in his career at the 2023 Ryder Cup.