Rory McIlroy gets honest about Irish Open and performance concerns before Ryder Cup

Rory McIlroy has praised the Irish Open as a crucial element of his Ryder Cup preparations. Despite encountering some disappointments this year, particularly at the PGA Championship, McIlroy has savoured a memorable 2025 after finally achieving his long-awaited career Grand Slam by securing his first Masters title at Augusta in April.

The Northern Irish star, who once claimed the Ryder Cup was an "exhibition" event, will spearhead Luke Donald's European squad to face their American rivals at Bethpage Black in New York, commencing on September 26. McIlroy, 36, has lauded the significance of the Irish Open in his preparation, as the 70th edition of the tournament begins at The K Club in Kildare on Thursday. He admitted to recently habouring some concerns about his performance levels, hoping to now iron those out.

"They are, they're big," the Masters champion said on the podcast regarding the weeks building up to the Ryder Cup. "I think now that the team is set we can start to do a little bit of bonding," he continued.

Speaking about the Hojgaard brothers, with Rasmus making the cut over Nicolai for this year's Ryder Cup, McIlroy added: "The only thing that's changed in our team is one initial. We went from an N Hojgaard to an R Hojgaard.

"But I think, for the team especially, and for me, I didn't play great the last couple of times I was out. I felt like I had a good couple of weeks at [Royal] Portrush [for The Open]. I felt I didn't get quite close enough to Scottie [Scheffler] but these are two big weeks just to get the game in shape and get really sharp before the whole team goes on a practice trip to New York.

"I'm always excited to come out, I'm excited for these two weeks. My favourite weeks of the year now really are when I come back to Europe, I get a real buzz out of it and I really enjoy it. So I'm looking forward to the next two weeks and spending a bit more time with the Euros who are on the Ryder Cup team."

Donald's Ryder Cup squad, whilst broadly aligning with most supporters' predictions, did exclude Europe's record points scorer, Sergio Garcia. Following a disappointing campaign, the Spaniard has now withdrawn from the Irish Open after failing to secure one of the wildcard picks.

Shane Lowry, Viktor Hovland, Sepp Straka, Matt Fitzpatrick, Jon Rahm and Ludvig Aberg were selected ahead of him. McIlroy confessed that he can't understand why the Spanish legend has pulled out after the 45-year-old stated he wanted to take a break following his Ryder Cup snub.

"No, I don't [understand]," McIlroy said on Wednesday. "I mean, it would have been great for the tournament if Sergio played, but obviously, he was trying to keep himself sharp, I guess, if he did get a pick.

"He has the right to enter and pull out of whatever tournaments he wants to. As I said, Luke has assembled a very strong 12 players, and I think the right 12 players, and I'm sure he's disappointed.

"But you know, at the same time, I'm sure he wishes Europe well and wants us to win." McIlroy endured a mixed opening round on Thursday, registering five birdies and four bogeys to finish one under.