Ferguson inspires United fan McIlroy

Golf’s world number one Rory McIlroy admits he sat in awe of Sir Alex Ferguson as the former Manchester United manager addressed the Europe Ryder Cup team at Gleneagles.

“I was there and I was just sitting there and looking up at him, and I didn’t – I didn’t take my eyes off him,” McIlroy, a Manchester United fan, said Wednesday.

“I was just sort of in this trance just listening to everything that he was saying and I’m sort of thinking, `this is all the stuff that he’s probably said to Manchester United teams over the years’.”

McIlroy wouldn’t go into the details of what Ferguson exactly said to the team ahead of their encounter from Friday with the United States.

“He told us a couple of stories just of past experiences in some big games and big matches, and some of the players that he managed, and it was a great evening. It was a really cool thing to be a part of,” he said.

The players “got to ask some questions, just about different things and what he thought was the key element to being successful as a team.”

Ferguson is “a very inspirational sort of man when he talks,” McIlroy said.

“He’s got a lot of authority and the room just goes quiet and everyone listens.”

Ferguson’s talk to the team was arranged by captain Paul McGinley – not the first time the Europeans have been given a motivational talk by a leading figure outside of golf.

In 2010 at Celtic Manor former Welsh rugby star Gareth Edwards spoke to the players, and McIlroy recalled a conference call at that Ryder Cup with golfing great Seve Ballesteros, who died in May 2011 of cancer.

“That was incredible, all of us huddled around this little speakerphone and Seve rallying the troops,” McIlroy said.

“Those things do help, those things really do, It galvanises us and brings us together, especially something like that.”

The motivational talks “are little details in the bigger picture, but it would be that half per cent or that one per cent that helps us to get back that little trophy.”

McIlroy meanwhile shrugged off US captain Tom Watson’s remarks that he would be psychologically the player to beat, along with Europe talisman Ian Poulter.

“There’s 10 other world-class players that he has to worry about, as well, and they are just as capable of putting points on the board for Europe,” McIlroy said.

“They can try and target us all they want, but there’s guys alongside us that can do just as good a job.”

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