Rory McIlroy has revealed the moment his relationship with the Ryder Cup changed.
McIlroy infamously referred to the Ryder Cup as an exhibition in 2010, saying: "It’s not that important an event for me. It’s an exhibition at the end of the day. Obviously, I’ll try my best for the team, but I’m not going to go running around fist-pumping."
The Northern Irishman -- not unfairly -- said that winning majors was his ultimate goal, but his perspective changed over the years, being reduced to tears in 2021 after failing to put a point on the board for Europe in the first two days.
McIlroy is now as passionate a member of the European team as there's ever been, and asked in his press conference when his relationship with the competition changed, the Grand Slam winner said: "Look, I watched Ryder Cups growing up, I cried when America won at Brookline. It's not as if I didn't feel something when I watched Ryder Cups.
"But I got into that team room at Celtic Manor and saw how much it meant to everyone and I was like 'maybe I got this wrong'.
"Seve was sick and we had him on one of those conference calls and he's speaking to the team and we're all in the team room, this is on the Wednesday or Thursday night and I look around and the majority of the team is crying as Seve is talking to us.
"That's the embodiment of what the European Ryder Cup team is. That conference call with Seve in 2010 was the moment for me."
Ballesteros is widely credited as the catalyst not just for the European Ryder Cup teams that he was a part of, but future generations, having his silhouette emblazoned on European shirt sleeves in 2012, having died of cancer the previous year.
