• Ryder Cup

Target Poulter and me? Bring it on, says McIlroy

Dodging bullets: Rory McIlroy runs to the tee for his practice round - but he's not bothered about being targeted © Getty Images

Enlarge

If reports are to be believed, all the talk in the US camp ahead of this week's 40th Ryder Cup at Gleneagles was: "How do we solve a problem like Rory?"

After a rocky spell that involved make-ups and break-ups with seemingly everyone in his life, McIlroy has re-established himself as the best player in the world in the second half of this year, winning at Wentworth before a flawless run that saw him add two more major championships to his already glittering trophy cabinet.

Colin Montgomerie, Europe's victorious 2010 captain, said earlier this week that McIlroy is "under a lot of pressure" because the Americans will focus on beating him. Beat Rory, beat the team, he said.

'Sir Alex left me in a trance'

Sir Alex Ferguson spoke to the European Ryder Cup team on Tuesday © Getty Images

• Rory McIlroy says he was "in a trance" listening to Sir Alex Ferguson give Europe's Ryder Cup stars a motivational team talk on Tuesday night.
• Click here to continue reading

There is also word that "Mr Ryder Cup" Ian Poulter, with his phenomenal record in this tournament, also has the visitors running scared, but world No.1 McIlroy is not interested in such claims, insisting he and Poulter are just "one sixth of a team of 12 world class players".

He added: "These players he's got to worry about as well and they're just as capable of putting points on the board. They can target us as much as they want but there are guys alongside us who can do just as good a job."

McIlroy appeared to get his hackles up when asked if beating him was worth more than a point - as suggested by Montgomerie.

"If someone beats me," he said, "they win a point. No more. No less."

McIlroy also said he would be willing, as world No.1, to take on the leadership role if captain Paul McGinley calls on him to do so.

"I have a job to do which is to win points for Europe - I don't care what number I play or who I play with," he added.

"I've got a responsibility to put points on the board for Europe and I'm one-twelfth of a team unit and I'm going to play the same role as everyone else. It would be a thrill and a buzz but no matter where I play my objective is just to win my match."

McIlroy revealed that the team's preparations, as well as McGinley's captaincy style, were largely in line with the tried-and-tested formulas of recent years.

"What we've been doing has been working - we've won seven of the last nine Ryder Cups," he said.

"Paul was very adamant he wants to keep to the same blueprint and just try to enhance it: do what we've been doing but a little bit better, that's the plan all week. We're winning and you don't have to reinvent the wheel - we've done it before and we want to try to do it again."

Alex Perry will be giving his insights from Gleneagles for the duration of the Ryder Cup. Follow him on Twitter: @AlexPerryESPN

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd