Now He's 'Running Around Fist-Pumping': Rory McIlroy Walks Back Old Ryder Cup Comments

When he was 20, Rory McIlroy said the Ryder Cup was an unimportant exhibition for him. He can laugh at that now.

ROME — Rory McIlroy was asked earlier this week by the DP World Tour for a video to read comments he had made about his feelings on the Ryder Cup back in 2009, before he had ever played in the competition.

McIlroy, now 34, was just 20 years old at the time, and his words were controversial.

"It’s not that important of an event for me," McIlroy said in the video. "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 be running around fist-pumping."

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McIlroy sheepishly read those words back this week. And things have changed quite a bit since then for McIlroy, who is playing in his seventh Ryder Cup this week.

"I said that in my naïveté as a young, swash-buckling lad," McIlroy admitted during the interview while laughing at the quote. "I now have been a part of the Ryder Cup a lot and what those three quotes are couldn’t be further from the truth. Obviously, I have watched Ryder Cups on TV, I cheered for the European team and played team golf before.

"But it’s just a completely different environment once you get in there and seeing how much it means to everyone. It’s the purest competition in golf. For me, it doesn’t get any better than that."

Although McIlroy has played on four winning teams in six attempts, his individual record is a modest 12-12-4. Two years ago at Whistling Straits, McIlroy sat out a session for the first time and was just 1-3, having lost all three of his team matches.

Rory McIlroy is playing in his seventh Ryder Cup this week.  :: Kyle Terada/USA TODAY Sports

His first Ryder Cup was in 2010 at Celtic Manor in Wales where he went 1-1-2.

"It was probably very early in the week at Celtic Manor. I took a bit of grief for those comments, and rightfully so," McIlroy said. "But I remember in 2010 in one of the practice rounds, I still had the sort of long, curly hair at that point and a few of the guys on the team came down to the first tee with wigs on and like sort of made a joke of it. Yeah, that meant a lot to me.

"I said it in that little video piece I did earlier in the week. It's not as if I didn't play team golf before or knew what it was about. I think in 2009, I was just so focused on myself and trying to get my career off the ground that I felt like I had sort of bigger and better things to achieve for my individual goals and stuff like that that I just didn't put any emphasis on making a Ryder Cup team until you make one, and then you never want to be off one again.

"I think that's sort of the crux of it. So I love being a part of this team. My most enjoyable moments in my career have been being a part of European Ryder Cup teams. I'm still very, very proud and probably proudest of the things I've done as an individual, but nothing—nothing beats this week. It's an amazing experience and I want to be a part of it for as long as I can."