World number one Rory McIlroy has doused any fears of burnout ahead of the Ryder Cup, declaring to European captain Paul McGinley “put me in every Gleneagles match”.
McIlroy will tee up Friday in the opening round of the $8 million PGA Tour’s Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston, the second of the four FedEx Cup playoff events.
It is also McIlroy’s sixth event in seven weeks and when including the next two events in Denver and Atlanta, he will have played eight of nine weeks since the Scottish Open. That would give him just a week’s break before the Ryder Cup.
And in an indication of McIlroy’s busy lifestyle, the four-time major winner arrived in Massachusetts having spent Monday court side at Flushing Meadows supporting Andy Murray in his US Open encounter.
He then savoured a three-hour lunch on Long Island with former US president Bill Clinton who recounted stories about his White House dealings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
McIlroy then played a social game Tuesday afternoon at Shinnecock Hills on Long Island, defeating his manager Sean O’Flaherty 2 and 1 before tackling his caddy JP Fitzgerald in a social match on Wednesday at nearby Sebonack and where McIlroy is a member.
However McIlroy played down any concern ahead of teeing up in this week’s Boston event, which he also captured two years ago.
“You just have to be smart and you have to be sensible,” he said.
“I enjoyed my time in the week after winning the PGA Championship and besides I didn’t have that many late nights where I let it get the better of me,” he said.
“I am trying to conserve all the energy I can because not only do I want to win the FedEx Cup but I know with the Ryder Cup it’s going to be a huge week and a long week where you want to be fresh.
“And besides I didn’t sit out a match at Medinah so my message is ‘McGinley stick me down for every match.'”
McIlroy will play the opening two rounds in Boston with Americans Jimmy Walker and Hunter Mahan.