Rory McIlroy has made his feelings clear on LIV Golf in recent years, but this did not stop the PGA Tour star from naming two of the league’s players who helped him inspire him at the Ryder Cup

Rory McIlroy features in the Ryder Cup documentary (Image: Getty Images)

Rory McIlroy named LIV Golf stars Lee Westwood and Graeme McDowell as two of the players who have helped inspire him on the Ryder Cup stage.

McIlroy has announced himself as a mainstay in the European team in recent years, competing at every Ryder Cup since making his debut back in 2010. Ahead of his first showing at Celtic Manor, the Northern Irishman raised eyebrows, when playing down the importance of the event.

“It’s not a huge goal of mine,” McIlroy said of becoming a Ryder Cup player back in 2009. “It’s an exhibition at the end of the day. In the big scheme of things it’s not that important of an event for me.”

Over 15 years on however it is fair to say the Northern Irishman’s opinion on the event has changed, especially having been reduced to tears following defeat at Whistling Straits in 2021, before earning his redemption in Rome two years later. Team Europe’s victory under Luke Donald will come back into the public eye over the next week, with a behind-the-scenes documentary being released on December 3 covering the win.

Named ‘Una Famiglia’ the documentary camera crew provided fly-on-the-wall coverage of their win at Marco Simone, with McIlroy featuring heavily. During the show the 35-year-old discusses who has helped him along the way on his Ryder Cup duty, highlighting 2010 captain Darren Clarke, as well as Westwood and McDowell.

“Clarkey, Gmac, Westwood,” the four-time major champion told the documentary cameras. “They were definitely the ones to educate me on how big the Ryder Cup was.” McIlroy’s three-time teammate Tommy Fleetwood also had his say, naming two more LIV players as his inspiration.

“For me Ian Poulter,” he said. Him and Sergio [Garcia].” McIlroy and Fleetwood could soon be reunited with Garcia on the Ryder Cup stage, after the Spaniard re-joined the DP World Tour for the 2025 season having previously quit for being sanctioned for competing in LIV events.

Alongside the likes of Poulter and Westwood, Garcia resigned his DP World Tour membership in 2023, having reportedly tallied up a fine bill worth a whopping £1 million. Last week however it was first reported by Bunkered that Garcia will be returning to the Wentworth-based circuit alongside eight over LIV players having paid off his fines.

Jon Rahm is one of those who has every intention of playing DP World Tour golf in 2025, having committed to play in the Hero Dubai Desert Classic in January. Having played his part in the victory in Rome, he too features in the documentary and opened up on what his LIV move may mean for his Ryder Cup future.

“It is fair to assume that I may have disappointed a few people, but the person I have been has not changed,” Rahm said. “No matter where I am in the world, no matter where I play golf, the Ryder Cup to me is still the Ryder Cup. You want to be a part of it. Water boy, I don’t care. You definitely want to be there.”