NEW DELHI — Rory McIlroy has expressed a desire to one day become European Ryder Cup captain — but not until the “mid-2030s.”
McIlroy will play his first match in India this week, returning to competitive action after helping Europe defend their Ryder Cup title last month by defeating the United States in New York.
The 36-year-old Northern Irishman has featured in the last eight Ryder Cups and, as the world’s second-ranked Masters champion, expects he will be part of the team for more games, particularly in Ireland in 2027.
But he said Wednesday that at some point in the future he would like to lead the team as a captain rather than a star player.
“Of course I’d love to be a captain one day and I feel very lucky because I’ve had a front-row seat with some of the best captains in Ryder Cup history,” McIlroy said, mentioning 2014 winning captain Paul McGinley and Luke Donald, who has led Team Europe in the past two tournaments.
“But,” he added, “I would say if I can continue to play well, hopefully it won’t be until the mid-2030s.”
McIlroy took a barrage of abuse from the American crowd at Bethpage Black, occasionally throwing it back at them in a heated atmosphere that ultimately became a subplot of the week.
He considers it a shame, especially since Europe became the first team to win the Ryder Cup away from home since 2012.
“Just in the last two weeks, being able to watch the highlights and see, especially the first two days, how good the foursomes and fourballs were [the] Europe is,” McIlroy said. “The Americans are going to hit it close; we’re closer to it. Americans make putts, we make putts on top [and] This happens every time.
“Unfortunately, people don’t remember that, they remember the week for the wrong reasons. I want to change the narrative and focus on how good Team Europe is and how proud I am to be part of this team that won the Ryder Cup away from home.”
McIlroy said he had been keen to play in India because he wanted his schedule to be “more international”. He will compete in Abu Dhabi in November and compete in the European Tour’s season-ending event in Dubai before playing in the Australian Open in December.
“I think over the past few years, I’ve enjoyed it more. I’ve enjoyed the trip,” he said. “I’m excited to play in front of people who have never played in front of people before.”
McIlroy, a self-confessed “sick” cricketer, said he was disappointed that he could not find time to watch India’s favorite cricket game during his travels.
“I’d love to come back and do this,” he said.
