Rory McIlroy is already a legend of the Ryder Cup. And there’s more to come. Or so it seems. You never know. The Northern Irishman won the Saturday morning foursome alongside Tommy Fleetwood against Collin Morikawa and Harris English (3&2) and has added his 20.5th point to his historical Ryder tally. With this victory, he has joined the prestigious club of players who have scored more than 20 points in this competition. He is the thirteenth to enter. Not bad. There have been 45 editions between 1927 and 2025, and only twelve players until today had reached this mythical figure.
Specifically, Rory has reached 20.5, the same as José María Olazábal achieved in his career. He is two points behind Seve Ballesteros, whom he could equal by winning this afternoon’s fourball with Shane Lowry and tomorrow’s singles. Big words. If we talk only about European players, McIlroy is the eighth to reach 20 points.
The ranking is as follows:
Europe:
– Sergio García: 28.5
– Nick Faldo: 25
– Bernhard Langer: 24
– Lee Westwood: 24
– Colin Montgomerie: 23.5
– Seve Ballesteros 22.5
– José María Olazábal: 20.5
– Rory McIlroy: 20.5
United States:
– Billy Casper: 23.5
– Arnold Palmer: 23
– Phil Mickelson: 21.5
– Lanny Wadkins: 21.5
– Lee Trevino: 20
McIlroy also becomes the third youngest golfer in history to reach that mythical figure of 20 points. The youngest, of course, was Sergio García. The Castellón native achieved it in the 2014 Ryder Cup, at the age of 34 years, 9 months, and 19 days. Next was Nick Faldo at 36 years, 2 months, and 7 days. McIlroy has done it at 36 years, 4 months, and 23 days. He narrowly surpassed Seve Ballesteros. The Cantabrian reached 20 in the 1993 Ryder, when he was 36 years, 5 months, and 18 days old. None of the Americans achieved it before turning 40.
How far can Rory McIlroy take his tally? Obviously, he is the best-placed player to one day reach the 28.5 points that Sergio García has. In any case, it’s not easy. It’s true that we’ve come from two Ryders (Rome and Bethpage) where the Northern Irishman is scoring many points, but it can also happen like in Whistling Straits, where he only won one. Moreover, you never know when a player’s last Ryder might be. In principle, it seems Rory still has a few left, but we must not forget what Luke Donald always repeats: “Who would have told me that Medinah in 2012, where I arrived as World Number One, would be my last Ryder Cup?” So, you never know.
What is clear is that there are now 13 members of the Ryder Cup’s 20 club, and among them, we have no less than three Spaniards, the best-represented nationality here from the Old Continent. Another fact to understand the enormous weight that Spanish golf has in this competition.
By the way, Jon Rahm has 10.5 points in four Ryder Cups… Rory McIlroy has eight… We’ll see what happens.
