The top points scorers... Europe

1977-1997

Nickfaldo

1981-2002

Bernhardlanger

1991-2006

Colinmontgomerie

1997-2016

Leewestwood

1979-1995

Seveballesteros

for the next tee. Reed eventually came out on top in a match that went the distance, helping the home team run out convincing 17-11 winners.

“I could play it for nine holes, and then it suddenly hit me,” said Mcilroy, speaking at Le Golf National ahead of this week’s match, in reply to being asked if he’d been surprised how well he’d played that day when both players were so pumped up by the occasion and the potential importance of their match. “It sort of reached its crescendo on the eighth green, and the last ten holes wasn’t quite as good.

“When I look back at those videos and I look back at the last Ryder Cup – 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. So I think I learnt a lot from that.

“It’s good to get excited and it’s good to have that, but, at the same time, if I need and have to be called upon to play a late match on Sunday or whatever it is, I want to have all my energy in reserve, so that I can give everything for 18 holes because I did hit a wall on that back nine on Sunday, and it cost me.”

At Hazeltine, Mcilroy was paired with one of the rookies, Andy Sullivan, in the opening session, which Europe lost 4-0. He then joined forces with another debutant, Belgian Thomas Pieters, the pair hitting it off as they delivered three points. Pieters didn’t make the team this time around, leaving Mcilroy seeking a new partner in crime. Jon Rahm, the fiery Spaniard, is widely expected to be saddling up alongside Mcilroy in Friday’s opening fourballs.

“It was a weird one because Thomas and I didn’t actually play a practice round together at Hazeltine,” recalled Mcilroy. “It was sort

Sergiogarcia of a bit of a ‘throw us together at the last moment and see how it goes’. It obviously worked. We played great. We won the three matches that we played with each other. I’d love to find another partner that I could go so well with again this week. You know, I’m not going to give away who we are going to be playing with or our pairings or anything. You’ll see who we practise with on the course each day (Mcilroy and Rahm have been in the same group for the two

RORY MCILROY practice sessions so far), and you can figure it out from there.”

Referring to Rahm, he added: “He definitely has the fire of a Seve [Ballesteros]. He’s got that passion that the Spanish are known for. We’ve had this Whatsapp group going, all the Ryder Cup players and vice captains and captains for the last few weeks, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised at Jon’s input into it.

“It’s been really cool to see how much he wants this and how he

“He (Rahm) definitely hasthefireofaseve Ballesteros... it’s been really cool to see how much he wants this and how he cares about the Ryder Cup”

“I had a putt from about ten feet to stay one down with two to play, and I made that to give myself half a chance. I remember walking onto the 17th tee and just forcing myself to stay aggressive, because in the back of your mind, you’d be like, ‘okay, let’s just get a half out of this match’, but I knew that the job was to deliver a point. We needed to have an historic comeback and a monumental comeback.

“The putt on 17 was unbelievable, and that’s what kind of people