While the 2016 Ryder Cup was not a successful one for Rory McIlroy, the event did see the Northern Irishman take part in one of the all-time great matchups involving Patrick Reed.
Europe were soundly beaten at Hazeltine in the 2016 Ryder Cup. Darren Clarke’s men went into the event looking for their fourth straight victory. However, they came up against a determined USA side which had overhauled how they prepared for the competition.
Davis Love III was given another shot at captaincy following Medinah four years earlier. And it seemed that the team had moved away from almost everything which led to their defeat in 2014.
Those decisions proved to be inspired. USA won all four matches in the opening session. And after they won the Saturday afternoon session 3-1, the home team went into the singles with a 9.5-6.5 lead.
What Rory McIlroy found weird about the celebrations at the 2016 Ryder Cup
Patrick Reed and McIlroy went on to produce a match for the ages in the opening game, with Reed edging the contest 1 up. Ultimately, just four European players won their matches as USA eventually won 17-11.
The US may have got their hands on the trophy for the first time since 2008. But it seems that the celebrations ended up catching McIlroy off-guard.
Speaking on the No Laying Up podcast back in 2016, McIlroy explained why he felt compelled to try and inspire some chants amongst the home fans himself once the trophy was secured.
“It was weird. For us, yeah, of course we lost, but we looked at the US team, especially the fans, I was thinking they’re going to be so excited that their team’s won this thing for the first time in eight years or whatever it is, but it seemed like once they won, the whole place went quiet. It was weird,” he said.
“And that’s why I was the one that was celebrating, I was like ‘USA’, go and chant the way you’ve been chanting for the last three days. Your team’s just won. And then all of a sudden, they go quiet. We didn’t understand it, you can’t come and chant and shout the way you have for the last three days and not celebrate when you win.”
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It is remarkable to look back on the European team in particular now. Clarke’s team included six rookies – five of whom have never played in the Ryder Cup again.
Funnily enough, one of those players went on to become the leading points scorer on either side that week.
While the likes of Danny Willett, Chris Wood, Rafa Cabrera-Bello, Andy Sullivan and Matt Fitzpatrick qualified automatically, Thomas Pieters was relying on a captain’s pick from Clarke to make the team. The Belgian joined Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer in making up the team.
Pieters has always hit the ball a long way, so perhaps it was no surprise that he did play well on a course which played to the strengths of the biggest hitters. But few would have expected him to win four points from five matches.
He played three times alongside McIlroy, winning all of those matches. Meanwhile, he beat J.B. Holmes in the Sunday singles.
It is remarkable to think that that match with Holmes remains his most recent game in the event nearly a decade on.
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