Rory McIlroy has become the 'cornerstone' of Europe in Ryder Cup

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. (AP) — Rory McIlroy understood all that the Ryder Cup means three days before he ever hit a shot. As a 21-year-old rookie in 2010, he was in the team room at Celtic Manor in Wales with the rest of the Europeans. On the phone was Seve Ballesteros, the soul of Team Europe, dying from a brain tumor.

“I look around and the majority of the team is crying as Seve is talking to us,” McIlroy recalled Wednesday ahead of a soggy day of practice at Bethpage Black.

“And I'm like, that's it. That's the embodiment of what the European Ryder Cup team is,” he said. “That conference call with Seve in 2010 was the moment for me.”

The player who once referred to the Ryder Cup as an exhibition, as “not that important an event for me,” as a competition that wouldn't make him run around throwing fists pumps, is now the strongest voice and the only European with the career Grand Slam.

“He's obviously a great player and very skilled, very experienced," Viktor Hovland said. "But also he carries a lot of weight in the team room.

"He's very comforting to have there. He makes everyone in the team room feel good. And I think he brings out the best in everyone in there.”

The question is what McIlroy will bring out from the New York crowd when the Ryder Cup gets started Friday at the public course with a reputation for being rowdy.

McIlroy has gone from being extremely popular to occasionally polarizing over the last several years. He went from being the boldest opponent of Saudi-funded LIV Golf to pushing the hardest for the rival circuits to come together.

After winning the Masters to complete the career Grand Slam, he shirked media responsibilities at two majors, skipped the Memorial without a courtesy call to host Jack Nicklaus and said at the U.S. Open, "I've earned the right to do whatever I want.”

He is a big figure in golf, a big part of Team Europe and certainly the most experienced player. This is eighth Ryder Cup since making his debut in the exhibition at Wales. His record is 16-13-4, certainly not the best among European stalwarts, but what matters more is being on five winning teams against two losses.

Jon Rahm saw a shift in McIlroy's presence at the last Ryder Cup in Rome, a week marked not only by McIlroy's personal-best 4-1-0 record, but his feisty spirit when he mixed it up in a parking lot still peeved over the behavior by Patrick Cantlay's caddie.

“He's the biggest name we have in Europe. He's the better player we have in Europe. And he's definitely the biggest presence,” two-time major champion Jon Rahm said. “That's his role now. He's gone from being an incredibly good player to a great Ryder Cup player to now being, I would say, the cornerstone that Team Europe needs.”

He can lead by his play and inspire by his emotions. McIlroy still doesn't see himself in a position to dispense advice, particularly when it comes to handling a hostile crowd.

He was screaming at the top of his lungs and cupping his ears to egg on the Minnesota crowd during an epic singles match with Patrick Reed at Hazeltine in 2016. He was in tears at Whistling Straits in 2021 after a poor performance by himself and Team Europe.

And then came Rome, where he was the catalyst.

“I’m very lucky. I get a lot of support pretty much everywhere I go when I play golf, and it’s going to feel a little different for me this week. But that's to be expected,” McIlroy said. “I feel like at times in the Ryder Cup, I have engage too much with the crowd. But then there's time where I haven’t engaged enough. So it’s really just trying to find the balance of using that energy from the crowd to fuel your performance.”

He had the support of practically the entire golf world when he won a Masters green jacket in April. Now he goes after a 17-inch gold trophy to share with a team. Both are important to McIlroy in different ways.

Ian Poulter is known primarily for his Ryder Cup heroics. Ballesteros, while a five-time major champion, is the reason continental Europe was invited to join the British Isles in 1979 for what is now the modern era of the Ryder Cup.

McIlroy is not that and might never be. He is Europe's No. 1. He is a Grand Slam champion. That doesn't make this week any less special.

"I still want to play well for myself. I’ve always said I’m proudest of my individual achievements in the game,” McIlroy said. “But the most memorable moments and the most fun I’ve had in my career have been at Ryder Cup. So they are a little bit different.”

He also believes winning the Ryder Cup on U.S. soil, which Europe has done four times but not since 2012, “would be one of the greatest accomplishments of my career for sure.”

AP Ryder Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/ryder-cup

FILE - Europe's Rory McIlroy plays a shot on the 11th hole on the final day of the 2010 Ryder Cup golf tournament at the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport, Wales, Monday, Oct. 4, 2010. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham, File)

Europe's Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, watches his tee shot on the 12th hole during a practice round for the Ryder Cup golf tournament, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025, on the Bethpage Black golf course, in Farmingdale, N.Y. (AP Photo/Robert Bukaty)

Europe's Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, signs during a practice round for the Ryder Cup golf tournament, Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025, in Farmingdale, N.Y., at Bethpage State Park's Black Course. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

FILE - Europe's Rory McIlroy reacts after winning the 17th hole on the second day of the 2010 Ryder Cup golf tournament at the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport, Wales, Saturday, Oct. 2, 2010. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison, File)

Europe's Rory McIlroy speaks during a news conference at the Ryder Cup golf tournament, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025, on the Bethpage Black golf course, in Farmingdale, N.Y. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Police in Ohio's capital city said Wednesday that they have gathered enough evidence to link a man charged in the double homicide of his ex-wife and her husband in their Columbus home last month to the killings.

Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant said in an Associated Press interview that authorities now believe Michael David McKee, 39, a vascular surgeon who was living in Chicago, was the person seen walking down a dark alley near Monique and Spencer Tepe's home in video footage from the night of the murders. His vehicle has also been identified traveling near the house, and a firearm found in his Illinois residence also traced to evidence at the scene, she said.

An attorney representing McKee could not be identified through court listings.

His arrest Saturday capped off nearly two weeks of speculation surrounding the mysterious killings that attracted national attention. No obvious signs of forced entry were found at the Tepes’ home. Police also said no weapon was found there, and murder-suicide was not suspected. Further, nothing was stolen, and the couple’s two young children and their dog were left unharmed in the home.

“What we can tell you is that we have evidence linking the vehicle that he was driving to the crime scene. We also have evidence of him coming and going in that particular vehicle,” Bryant told the AP. “What I can also share with you is that there were multiple firearms taken from the property of McKee, and one of those firearms did match preliminarily from a NIBIN (ballistic) hit back to this actual homicide.”

Bryant said that the department wants the public to keep the tips coming. Investigators were able to follow up on every phone call, email and private tip shared from the community to the department and some of that information allowed them to gather enough evidence to make an arrest, she said.

That work culminated in the apprehension of McKee in Rockford, Illinois, where the hospital where he worked — OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center — has said it is cooperating with the investigation. He has been charged with premeditated aggravated murder in the shooting deaths. Monique Tepe, who divorced McKee in 2017, was 39. Her husband, a dentist whose absence from work that morning prompted the first call to police, was 37.

McKee waived his right to an extradition hearing on Monday during an appearance in the 17th Judicial Circuit Court in Winnebago County, Illinois, where he remains in jail. Bryant said officials are working out details of his return to Ohio, with no exact arrival date set. His next hearing in Winnebago County is scheduled for Jan. 23.

Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther said Wednesday that the city doesn't prioritize high-profile cases any more than others, noting that the city's closure rate on criminal cases exceeds the national average. The city also celebrated in 2025 its lowest level of homicides and violent crime since 2007, Ginther said.

“Every case matters. Ones that receive national attention, and those that don’t,” he told the AP. “Every family deserves closure and for folks to be held accountable, and the rest of the community deserves to be safe when dangerous people are taken off the street.”

Ginther said it is vital for central Ohioans to continue to grieve with the Tepes' family, which includes two young children, and loved ones, as they cope with “such an unimaginable loss.”

“I want our community to wrap our arms around this family and these children for years to come,” he said.

This undated booking photo provided by the Winnebago County Sheriff's Office Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, shows Michael David McKee, who was charged in the killing of his ex-wife, Monique Tepe, and her husband Spencer Tepe at their Columbus, Ohio, home on Dec. 30, 2025. (Winnebago County Sheriff's Office via AP)

Spencer and Monique Tepe's home in Columbus, Ohio, on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Patrick Aftoora-Orsagos)

This image taken from video shows Michael David McKee walking into the courtroom on Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in Rockford, Ill. (WIFR News/Pool Photo via AP)