What Rory McIlroy Must Do to Secure Europe Another Ryder Cup

Rory McIlroy leads Europe into this weekend’s Ryder Cup at The Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire, Scotland. The world’s No. 1 player is coming off a spectacular 2014 season in which he added two more major championships.

The Europeans come into the event as confident as ever. They’ve beaten the Americans in two straight Ryder Cups and haven’t lost while playing in Europe since 1993.

The 2014 cup will be McIlroy’s third overall, but the first while regarded as the best golfer playing.

According to Marika Washchyshyn of Golf.com, European captain Paul McGinley is happy that the Americans are gunning for McIlroy and teammate Ian Poulter. McGinley said:

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The two guys earned that reputation. They have played so well. Rory, to be No. 1 in the world, and Ian Poulter with his performances in The Ryder Cup; it's not something that we should be afraid of or embarrassed about ... I can tell you one thing, it's a real motivating factor for both of them that they know that it's a big focus on the Americans playing them.

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McIlroy absolutely has added pressure on him, but he’s been dealing with that for a lot of the season now. After winning The Open Championship, all eyes were on him and he continued his success through the end of the year with several other victories. Despite not winning the FedEx Cup, there’s no other golfer you’d want on your team.

Peter Morrison/Associated Press

McIlroy has a modest 4-3-2 record in Ryder Cups, however, three of those victories came in 2012.

It’s tough to say that McIlroy has to be perfect this time around, but almost anything other than a spotless record could be considered a win for Team USA. However, it’s clear the Americans will be sending their best players to go against him, so any winning record should be enough to call this Ryder Cup a success for Rory.

McIlroy has been the best golfer on tour during the regular season. To solidify his incredible year and his No. 1 ranking, he simply has to score more points than he surrenders and Europe should come away with another Ryder Cup.

Washchyshyn reported McGinley saying, “I think Rory has handled the expectancy on him as World No. 1 incredibly well. He seems to be very comfortable when he has the favorite tag. I have no worries with Rory from that side.”