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McIlroy was a 20-year-old when he derided the
biennial event as something not among his goals, but the
four-time major winner soon started to understand its special
place in the calendar the following year on his debut at Celtic
Manor.
"Going into my first Ryder Cup, I didn't know what all the fuss
was about. I still thought it was this team event that really
doesn't matter in the big scheme of things," the 29-year-old
told a news conference at Le Golf National on Wednesday.
"I was more concerned about individual titles and all that. Once
I got on to that first tee on Friday morning, I thought, 'oh,
this is a little different than I expected'.
"It doesn't seem that it's been that long and now this is going
to be my fifth Ryder Cup," added the Northern Irishman, who last
week said that winning majors had provided his proudest moments
but Ryder Cups had been his best golfing experiences.
"But they have all been wonderful experiences for different
reasons, and I'm sure this time will be no different.
"I've been excited for this for basically since the last day in
Hazeltine, whenever we weren't the ones spraying champagne for a
change," the world number six said.
WASTED ENERGY
That contest two years ago featured one of the all-time great
singles matches as McIlory took on this year's U.S. Masters
champion Patrick Reed in a high-octane, high-volume Sunday
showdown.
Sent out first by their captains, the talismen traded shots and
celebrations through a terrific match in front of baying
galleries, before Reed eventually triumphed on the final hole.
Both have since spoken about how much they enjoyed that battle
but McIlroy said on Wednesday that having looked back on how
high he was on adrenalin, he had learned an important lesson.
"I could play it for nine holes, and then it suddenly hit me,"
he said. "The level sort of declined after that and reached its
crescendo on the eighth green, and the last 10 holes weren't
quite as good. I hit a wall on that back nine and it cost me.
"I look back as those videos, it wasn't just Sunday. It was
Friday and Saturday. I'm surprised I had a voice left at the end
of the week. It looked tiring to have to play golf like that for
three days.
"I learnt a lot from that and learnt that it's good to get
excited and to have that, but at the same time, if I need to
play a late match on Sunday or whatever it is, I want to have
all my energy in reserve so I can give everything for 18 holes."
(Reporting by Mitch Phillips; Editing by John O'Brien)
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