Professional golfer Rory McIlroy has been a thorn in the side of Team America during his entire Ryder Cup career. He has been a mainstay on Team Europe since 2010, which has won five of the past seven Ryder Cups.
This week, Rory will lead Team Europe against Team America at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, New York.
For those unfamiliar with this golf course, a sign on the first hole reads: “WARNING -- Bethpage Black is an extremely difficult course which we recommend only for highly skilled golfers.”
Given that Rory and his teammates were about to embark on a three-day grind against their American counterparts, one would think that Rory would not have much nice to say about the United States. One would assume that Rory, representing his homeland, would vigorously defend his birthplace of Ireland.
Quite the opposite occurred.
Before the official start of the tournament, Rory, who has lived in the United States for several years, took time to share his thoughts on America, which he calls “the best country in the world.”
Like many PGA Tour players, Rory was not born in the United States. He recalled that when he was a budding young golfer in Ireland, “Everyone wanted to make it in America.”
“I am unbelievably grateful and lucky that I got to come to America early on. I think success is celebrated here. I think there's a wonderful sense of work ethic … If you come here and work hard and dedicate yourself, you can be or do whatever you want.” he said.
Implicitly, Rory is saying that places like Ireland do not reward hard work and dedication like we do in the United States.
He is inferring that Ireland and Europe do not offer the same degree of opportunity to achieve wealth and prosperity based on the exertion of hard work and dedication.
He is coyly alluding that places like Ireland and Europe still carry the vestiges of their hierarchical societies and their recent embrace of nanny state welfarism.
“I live here. My wife is American. My daughter is American. I have a lot of affinity towards this country, and I think everyone that lives here should have that same affinity because it is … a wonderful place,” McIlroy added.
Rory McIlroy is the poster boy of an immigrant coming to America and achieving vast success based solely upon individual achievement. Unlike most other sports, golf is played solo. Aside from events like the Ryder Cup, the overwhelming majority of golf tournaments are played at the individual level.
As such, professional golfers are literally on their own. They cannot count on teammates or coaches.
Despite injuries and setbacks, Rory has embraced his core ethos of hard work and dedication throughout his career. Fittingly, his tenacity has paid off.
Earlier this year, McIlroy achieved the vaunted career Grand Slam. After winning the 2025 Master, Rory became the sixth golfer all-time to win all four major tournaments.
To his credit, Rory’s victory this year at Augusta came after more than a decade in the making. His resolve and perseverance, however, remained undaunted. He constantly challenged himself to be better.
Over the years, even as he has gotten older, Rory’s game has improved. He has reinvented himself, changed his swing, honed his short game, and remains one of the longest and straightest drivers of a golf ball.
Although some of that is surely inborn talent, a lot of that is also a direct result of Rory’s fanatical work ethic, attention to detail, and general commitment to his craft.
The point is that Rory is not only correct in his account of the United States being the land of opportunity that rewards diligence, but he is also the embodiment of it.
Chris Talgo (ctalgo@heartland.org) is editorial director at The Heartland Institute.
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