McIlroy needs "hangover" cure
Jim Furyk and Thomas Bjorn. Picture: Getty Images
Paul McGinley believes Thomas Bjorn must help Rory McIlroy recover from his Tour Championship hangover if Europe is to win back the trophy.
The 2014 skipper believes it's crucual that McIlroy picks himself up after he failed to exert any pressure on Tiger Woods in the final round at East Lake on Sunday, slumping to a disappointing 74 to finish seventh.
"There is going to be a hangover, no doubt about it," McGinley told Sky Sports. "This was really disappointing for Rory.
"Him and Justin Rose were Tiger's nearest pursuers and not taking credit away from Tiger winning, they weren't competitive on the last day and gave Tiger a five-shot lead early.
"Rory let that get away from him. Hopefully, there was a really tough analysis afterwards because we need a rejuvenated Rory McIlroy. We know he has it. We need him out there at his very best."
McGinley believes Bjorn needs his top five players win at least 60 percent of the points they contest.
"That's the fulcrum on which you win Ryder Cups," he said. "Guys like Rory, guys like Justin Rose, Jon Rahm, Tommy Fleetwood, I’d add Open champion Francesco Molinari in there. Those are the players you want winning as many points as possible.
"Rory gets the crowd going and he's passionate but he really needs to deliver. He's a very dynamic golfer. He can dominate his opponent and ride off into the sunset and win.
"He's going to be playing up the order so he dictates the pace and the momentum of the team that's going to follow on."
Rapping Rahm
Fiery Jon Rahm won't need much revving up for the Ryder Cup.
But he’s not taking any chances with Eminem’s “Kamikaze” at the top of his warm-up playlist before teeing it up.
"I do it when I first start putting just so I can get into my own world," he said.
"Right before teeing off, especially on a week like this, it's easy to get caught up looking at the stands and the people and what's going on and forget what you're here for in the first place.
"That's why I put the headphones on. It kind of helps me get within myself and be able to get physically and mentally ready for the match.
"I've been listening to a lot to Eminem's new album. I can tell you that much."
McIlroy trolls Rahm
Rory McIlroy knows how to push Jon Rahm's buttons and has taken to the European Whatsapp feed to wind up the jet-lagged Basque star.
After consistently outdriving Rahm in a practice round on Tuesday, he snapped a picture of him asleep on the massage table, dissing his lack of power off the tee.
"Rory, he decided it was a perfect time to take a picture in my underwear and post it on the chat and say I couldn't handle him hitting it past me every single drive," Rahm said.
"Obviously you have to protect yourself and respond to something like that and say whatever comes to mind."
What Rahm replied was not revealed but he did admit that no holds are barred.
"It's pretty much freewheel to say what you want to anybody, which is obviously a great thing because we all have a lot of fun," he said.
Rose likes big Jon
Justin Rose isn't considered the smartest player on the European team for nothing.
The FedExCup champion is quick off the mark and when asked if there was a danger than Jon Rahm could get "too excited" as he was "floating about six feet off the ground," the Englishman defused the question neatly.
“Well, I think Jon’s 24, is he?” Rose asked. "It’s his first Ryder Cup. He's a passionate player, so I think him being six feet above the ground is brilliant because he's already about 6-4, so that would be pretty intimidating if he's flying high.
"I would encourage him to just keep feeling that way, keep going and keep riding the emotions and use it as inspiration and feed off it."
Bubba’s glove
Bubba Watson marches to the beat of his own drum and he wasn’t backtracking yesterday when he insisted his 2011 French Open comments were taken completely the wrong way.
Sporting a blue golf glove at the behest of his team mates, the left-hander complained about the lack of security on his last visit to Paris for the French Open, where he missed the cut.
He was reported to have told the local media he saw “that big tower”, a “building starting with an L” (the Louvre) and “this arch I drove round in a circle” (the Arc de Triomphe).
“It was sad that people wrote or took my comments or whatever I did,” Watson said. "Sometimes the media takes it a different way than it was meant to be.
“It was sad that they did that because I loved it. I’ve always loved it. I love travelling. I mean, that’s why I have played around the world, I love travelling and I love cultures.
“It was sad, but I learned from it. It made me mature as a person and understand that I’ve got to be more mature and more careful how I word things. Hopefully I worded all that right.”
As for the glove, he said: "A forfeit? Just being dumb with the team. It's like there's a certain guy, I'm not going to say who, had to say certain words in their interviews; who knows if they said them.”
