Rory McIlroy, the World No.1, has played down the impression that he played kingmaker ahead of the Ryder Cup, but appreciates that his voice was heard as Paul McGinley was picked to captain the European side.
The 25-year-old was one of several players - alongside Luke Donald and Ian Poulter - who championed McGinley as the captain was chosen in January 2013.
Their support appeared to be vindicated during the transatlantic contest at Gleneagles, with the Irishman receiving widespread praise both from inside the team and those on the outside. McGinley was extolled, in particular, for the manner in which he prepared his players and attended to the fine details which helped lead to a 16½-11½ win over the United States.
With the trophy retained by the European team, attention has been turned already to the identity of the man who will lead the side when the Ryder Cup resumes at Hazeltine in 2016. McIlroy will offer his views once more but he played down the significance of his support.
"I wouldn't say I am a kingmaker but I feel like my opinion and view is listened to," said the four-time major winner. "I wanted to throw all my support behind Paul because I thought this would be his only chance to do it and I knew there was no better candidate. I'm glad he proved me right this week."
McGinley's methods of inclusivity and meticulous attention to detail were appreciated by the players and contrasted starkly with that of the United States. The best that the US players had to say about captain, Tom Watson, was that he was "a legend of the game", while Phil Mickelson appeared to offer a fierce criticism of Watson in a press conference after the event.
Mickelson was upset the players had not been consulted on decisions - he was left out during Saturday's play - while McGinley was keen to ensure that each of his players felt involved in team affairs. "You have to make sure your players are comfortable," added McIlroy. "We had a great team meeting on Saturday evening about where we wanted to play and what order we wanted to go out in.
"Paul said: 'if anyone is not happy with this we'll change it, we'll figure it out' so every decision this week that has been made the vice-captains and players have all been involved in. I know he has lived and breathed the Ryder Cup for the last two years and has made sure everything has gone right. I hope it is something that future European captains can go on with. As Paul said all week he didn't want
to reinvent the wheel, he just wanted to enhance it and that is what he did. I'd say
he was the best captain [in McIlroy's three Ryder Cups].
"I played under Paul at the Seve Trophy and I had a great week there. I think Paul took a lot from Bernhard Langer's captaincy at Oakland Hills [in 2004] and he put a lot of his principles into his captaincy: very German, very efficient and meticulous.
I don't think anyone on this team could criticise in any way anything he did this week."
By comparison Watson's approach appeared to be muddled and confused
and did not seem to follow any set plan. That made for plenty of analysis - and one uncomfortable press conference - but McIlroy admitted that the European players were not concerned with what went on with the US team.
"The first two days it is all about chemistry but Paul said to us going into the singles, 'just get back to being your selfish selves' - and that's what golfers are, it is an individual game," he added. "He said: 'don't care about any of the other guys in the singles, just go out and win your point. That is the best way to contribute to the team'.
"We really didn't pay attention to
what was going on in the American team
or how the dynamic was, we were just concentrating on ourselves. All I know is the European team really enjoyed themselves. The way we won was very satisfying."
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