We’ve seen Rory McIlroy lift major titles and win tournaments around the globe, but rarely have we seen him as emotional as he was in the aftermath of Europe’s Ryder Cup triumph in New York.

In the team’s post-match press conference, captain Luke Donald paid a powerful tribute to McIlroy, and the words hit home so hard, they reduced Rory to tears in front of his teammates, media, and fans watching around the world.

It was the kind of moment that reminds you why Rory McIlroy has been and remains one of the most captivating figures in world sport.

The Holywood native has now won 21.5 Ryder Cup points and sits at seventh on the European all-time points list, having picked up 3.5 points over the course of an eventful weekend at Bethpage Black.

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Luke Donald reduces Rory McIlroy to tears in post match presser

At the European team press conference on Sunday, Luke Donald was asked about what potentially winning eight or nine Ryder Cups and becoming the all-time leading points scorer could mean for Rory’s legacy in the game. His response was top class, leading to a few tears from McIlroy.

Ryder Cup weeks are the best weeks of our lives. We talk about this all the time.

Those individual accolades are fun. Individually, we want to achieve as much as we can.

Rory has achieved so much in the game. His place in history is set.

I think those weeks we spend together are the ones we remembers the most and cherish the most because of the time we get to spend with each other.

We’ll always remember this. We’ll always go down in history. We talk about all the people that came before us that paved the way for us.

Now future generations will talk about this team tonight and what they did and how they were able to overcome one of the toughest environments in all of sport.

And that is inspiring to me and that’s what Rory gets and all these other 11 guys get, as well.

Luke Donald has certainly forged an incredibly strong relationship with this European team over the last two years or so, something that paid dividends at Bethpage.

It remains to be seen if he will opt to stay on for a third edition of the Ryder Cup, but his eventual successor will certainly have big shoes to fill.

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