RORY MCILROY HAS hinted at his desire to request a clash with Tiger Woods at the Ryder Cup in Illinois.
What would be a promoter’s dream — the current world number one and rising star of the game against Woods, a 14-time major winner and the dominant player in golf over the last 15 years — is a possibility at the Medinah Country Club when the much-anticipated tournament begins on September 28.
During an interview with The Times, McIlroy suggested he may try and organise a showdown with Woods in the matchplay element of the biennial clash between Europe and the United States.
“It would be great fun to be part of,” McIlroy said. ”The atmosphere would be absolutely incredible. I might say to Tiger, ‘I’ll have a word with Jose (Maria Olazabal, European captain), you have a word with Davis (Love III, United States captain) — and I’ll see you on the first tee’.”
With two major victories already under his belt, 23-year-old McIlroy tops the world rankings ahead of Woods, English duo Luke Donald and Lee Westwood and Australian Adam Scott. McIlroy has only competed in one Ryder Cup tournament – in which Europe succeeded in 2010 – but will be one of the main men for Olazabal.
And although he admits it feels strange to say, he is expecting to be one of the leaders in the team despite his age.
“I think there will be an expectation on me to be one of the leaders,” he said. ”It’s strange to say because there are so many guys in the team who have done so much in their careers, but being number one in the world and with what I’ve done these last couple of years, I am expecting to go in with more of a leadership role.
“My voice being heard in the team room, making suggestions, being confident to say, ‘Listen guys, here’s what I think we should do’. ”I was a rookie last time and I sat quietly waiting for everybody else to say something. I hope to lead by example, maybe go out in the first game of the day, set the tone.”
