Rory McIlroy is back in action this week, taking on the Irish Open as part of his preparations for the Ryder Cup.
With his 2025 PGA Tour season now finished, five-time major champion McIlroy is currently competing on the DP World Tour.
The K Club plays host to the Irish Open, with McIlroy joined in the field by his Ryder Cup teammates Tyrrell Hatton and Shane Lowry.
The Northern Irishman won the tournament for the first time in 2016, securing a three-shot win over Bradley Dredge and Russell Knox.
The K Club in Kildare also played host to the event that year, while McIlroy finished as runner-up at Royal County Down last year.
Rory McIlroy gives his opinion on Luke Donald’s European Ryder Cup team
He’s now focused on another title, but was also tasked with looking ahead to this month’s Ryder Cup in his opening press conference.
Sharing his excitement for Bethpage Black, he said: “I’ve said this repeatedly, but I think winning an away Ryder Cup, it’s up there with one of the biggest achievements in the game, especially nowadays.
“There’s a reason that every Ryder Cup for the last 10 years has gone to the home team. The home team do have a big advantage from the setup of the golf course to how partisan the crowd is.
“I think the Europeans have a wonderful opportunity this year to achieve something very, very special, but it’s also going to be very difficult.
“They have a very strong team. They’re going to have a pretty raucous crowd on their side and on a golf course that a lot of them know pretty well from previous tournaments there.
“So make no mistake, we know we’re up against it and we know we’ve got a tall task on our hands, but I love the team that Luke [Donald] has assembled.
“This is going to be my eighth Ryder Cup. I’m the most experienced player at the Ryder Cup. Yeah, I’ve enjoyed that more senior leadership role on the team for the last few of them, and I’m very excited.”
Rory McIlroy compares the 2023 European Ryder Cup team to now
Donald confirmed his Ryder Cup picks earlier this week, making just one change from the team that won the tournament in Rome in 2023.
Having qualified automatically like McIlroy, Rasmus Hojgaard will replace his twin brother Nicolai in New York.
When it was put to McIlroy that the European players involved are stronger now than they were in 2023, he replied: “You could certainly make that case.
“The entire team has played some really good golf between Rome and now, someone like a Bob McIntyre who’s won a couple times now on the PGA Tour, had a chance to win the US Open.
“I think as well, speaking of the team, a few of the guys’ games or the profile of their games, if you look at it from a stats perspective, are… I think when we went to Rome, you had some guys that were purely foursome players, some guys were purely four-ball players, I think now we have flexibility within that 12, whether it be foursomes or four-ball, and changing the dynamics around a little bit.
“I think it’s something that will offer the team more flexibility than we have in Rome. Obviously Rome worked out very, very well for us, but as you said, you could argue that pretty much every player on the team is more accomplished than what they were two years ago.”
McIlroy was the first to qualify for Team Europe this time around, and he was quickly joined by star names such as Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Rose.
And that trio were key to the superb victory last time out, when Donald led the hosts to a 16½-11 ½ win over Zach Johnson’s America.
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