Rory sure MacIntyre will be a Ryder Cup asset

McIlroy backs Scot for European team

RORY McIlroy is backing Italian Open champion Robert MacIntyre’s bid to join him in the cut and thrust of Ryder Cup action.

The Northern Irishman gave the 26-year-old Scot a glowing endorsement yesterday ahead of the Dunhill Links Championship.

He would welcome having the Oban left-hander by his side next year at Rome’s Marco Simone Golf and Country Club — the venue where MacIntyre won his title earlier this month — in the belief that he would enhance Europe’s prospects of regaining the cup from the USA.

McIlroy said: ‘Bob obviously played fantastically well at the venue a couple of weeks ago. Hopefully his win in Italy will give him a good dose of confidence to move on and qualify for the team; and, if not qualify, play well enough to warrant a pick.’

Shane Lowry echoed that view, insisting the Scot has the mix of talent and temperament Team Europe will need. The 2019 Open champion said: ‘You look at Bob and you see a determined, gritty character. It doesn’t matter who he stands against on the first tee, he feels he can beat them — and people like that, you want them on your team.’

MacIntyre has made no secret of his desire to make Luke Donald’s team but, while he welcomed the support of two major champions, he stressed: ‘I have to knuckle down, trust everything I do and keep pushing. This is a big week for points but there’s still such a long way to go and Italy doesn’t make or break what’s going to happen in the next year. But the Ryder Cup is the goal and I’ll do everything to get there.’

Meanwhile, McIlroy insists the ongoing LIV Golf saga shouldn’t be allowed to take the shine off another showpiece event at St Andrews.

As the game’s top players and a host of celebrities gather for the Dunhill Links Championship, the Old Course — along with Carnoustie and Kingsbarns — will take centre stage just a couple of months after it held the 150th Open Championship.

McIlroy is dismayed that the LIV saga continues to rumble on and didn’t mince his words when asked about the issue yesterday.

An outspoken critic of the Saudibacked series, he responded to a call for an end to hostilities from Johann Rupert, chairman of the Dunhill Links Championship sponsor’s parent company Richemont. McIlroy is broadly supportive of that viewpoint, but is determined to focus on on-course matters this week.

‘Golf is so much bigger than all of us and I think people miss that,’ said the four-time major winner, who narrowly missed out on a second Claret Jug at St Andrews in the summer.

‘I thought the 150th Open Championship really was a feelgood moment. It was bigger than all this c**p we’ve talked about all year. I’ll always have a deep appreciation for St Andrews and what it means to our game. I think that’s more important than me trying to win an Open Championship here.’

There are 16 LIV rebels in this week’s field and McIlroy broadly agrees with those calling for the warring parties to come together in an effort to thrash out some sort of compromise. But, with all sorts of disputes around player bans and world ranking points ongoing, he said: ‘It’s very hard for that to happen right now when there’s two lawsuits going on.

‘There’s obviously this court case in February with the DP World Tour and then the one in the States, so that makes it very difficult — although I’ve seen that a few guys have dropped their name from that suit in the States. There’s a natural timeline here to let temperatures settle down a little and people can maybe go into mediation with cooler heads and not be so emotional.

‘I don’t want a fractured game and I never have. Golf is ripping itself apart and that’s no good for anyone, the guys on this side of the traditional system or the ones on the other side. But there’s a time and a place for it and right now it’s probably not the right time. In saying that, I don’t think we can let it go too much longer, so I’m all for everyone sitting around the table and trying to figure something out, for sure.’

The LIV rebels, led by Greg Norman, are furious at the loss of World Ranking points. While McIlroy is keen to see the best players ranked accordingly, he stressed: ‘At the same time, you can’t make up your own rules. I certainly have no problem with them getting World Ranking points. But you just have to meet the criteria, and if you don’t, it’s going to be hard to justify why you should have them.’

Playing with his dad, Gerry, this week in the team event will be somewhat less stressful than McIlroy’s last competitive round at the Old Course in July when he had a second Claret Jug ripped from his grasp by Cameron Smith, who subsequently defected to LIV.