Rónán MacNamara in Rome
In Tommy Fleetwood it seems Rory McIlroy has found the perfect Ryder Cup foursomes partner and he hopes to be around to continue what could be one of Europe’s great pairings for a few more editions.
The pair combined to dig out a second successive 2&1 win and inflict a first foursomes defeat on Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas on Saturday morning.
McIlroy was particularly impressive holing huge putts for wins on 15 and 17, the latter closing out the match. Europe’s last great pairing was Fleetwood and Francesco Molinari, famously dubbed ‘Moliwood’ after going 4-0 in 2018 but ‘Fleetwood Mac’ could go on to be more than just a flash in the pan and the seven-time Ryder Cup player hopes the duo will have many more Ryder Cups together.
“I think they get more special as you go on because you realise you don’t have that many left. Hopefully I have a few Ryder Cups left in me. It’s been an absolute pleasure to share the golf course with this man (Fleetwood) beside me over the last couple of days.”
Fleetwood’s ball striking proved the ideal foil for McIlroy’s explosiveness with the pair dovetailing beautifully throughout the week.
“He’s great because he makes you feel so at ease and you know that you can play loose. You can’t play tight. You don’t feel like you need to be perfect because you know you’ve got a partner beside you that’s going to bail you out if you need to and is going to hit the right shots at the right times.
“I think in foursomes, someone that strikes the ball like this man, you feel really comfortable playing alongside none like that. As I said it’s been a great couple of days.”
Leave a comment