McIlroy and Donald planning Ryder Cup on Florida | Golf News

Fired-up Rory McIlroy reveals Ryder Cup strategy is continually mentioned thanks to the fact he lives on the same Florida road as captain Luke Donald.

The European star will spearhead the visiting staff’s quest for victory against the United States at Bethpage next month.

McIlroy is keen to recreate the Medinah magic from 2012 where Donald was a teammate in the miraculous triumph for Jose Maria-Olazabal’s squad on American turf.

Now the pair are united as participant and chief, with the Masters champion revealing that scheming occurs on sidewalks as a lot as fairways.

McIlroy shared: “Luke and I live on the same street in Florida. We see each other all the time, so we talk about it a lot. I know what he wants from me, and I try to do that as best as I can. But I think just that continuity piece and we all know what we’re going to get whenever we turn up at Bethpage, which I think is reassuring for a lot of the players.”

McIlroy’s continuity reference relates to Donald serving as captain for the Rome victory two years in the past, that means Europe shall be defending in the Big Apple against a staff captained by World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler.

The bonuses are key, he shared: “Yeah, it’s been good. Luke is over in Europe right now and he’s at the Belfry and he’s with a few of the guys there that maybe have a chance to get those last couple of spots on the team.

“I’d say he is centered more on that aspect of issues proper now. There’s a lot of us right here that he does not actually need to focus on or communicate to proper now, myself, Rosey, Bob, Tommy, Viktor, the fellows that are just about on the staff.

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“Just continuity. Most of us know what his communication style is. Most of us know what he’s looking for in us. But the dialogue has been good. It’s nice that it looks like the team is going to be pretty much the same. We have this group chat from Rome that’s still going two years on.

“Everyone is in good spirits and clearly everybody is worked up for what’s to come in a few weeks at Bethpage.

“I played on Ryder Cup teams with all those guys that were sort of the core of that European team for a decade or more and that’s who I started with, and now we’ve sort of created our own core group. It’s the next generation and that’s a cool thing. Everyone on this team has my number. But some of the previous teams I’ve changed my number and not given it out to everyone.”

McIlroy, who is gearing up for Bethpage and aiming for a strong efficiency at the Tour Championship following his return from a break last week at the BMW Championship, acknowledged: “I’m definitely hitting the ball better than I did last week. Some positives. I’m a few shots further behind than I’d like going into the weekend, but pleased with the improvements that I’ve made from last week to this week.”