Rory McIlroy admits Ryder Cup will be strange without Europe's LIV Golf stars

European Ryder Cup heavyweights Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter have been an integral part of every Ryder Cup campaign McIlroy can remember. However, with their move to LIV Golf, the trio gave up their DP World Tour cards and made themselves ineligible for Ryder Cup selection. Another loss is Henrik Stenson, who was named captain before the LIV Golf fallout robbed him of the chance.

As such, the 2023 Ryder Cup is somewhat of a new era for Team Europe, which is set to feature several new faces under captain Luke Donald. Automatic qualifier Robert MacIntyre is part of a rather long list of Ryder Cup debutants, including wild card picks Sepp Straka, Nicolai Hojgaard and Ludvig Aberg.

"I was speaking to [wife] Erica the other night, and it's going to be weird for me not to have those guys in the team room because this is my seventh Ryder Cup and they've always been there," McIlroy told Golf Digest of his experienced teammates.

"It's time to form new bonds with other guys. Hopefully, I still have a few Ryder Cups left in me, so I'll try to form some bonds with the younger guys, like Nicolai and Ludwig, as well as guys who are going to be there a long time like Viktor [Hovland] and Jon [Rahm]."

McIlroy also spoke of his friendship with Irishman Shane Lowry, who relied on a wild card pick to make the team.

"He's turned into one of my closest friends and I'd go so far to say Erica would take a bullet for Wendy, Shane's wife, too," added the four-time major winner.

"We are all that close... it's just like a little pod since they moved down to Jupiter. Shane and I grew up together. We've grown closer together over the last sort of five years."

While Team USA have been woeful on European soil - going 30 years without a victory - McIlroy believes that 2023 may be their best chance yet.

"In the past, [the US team], with some of the big personalities, it felt like a team of individuals trying to fit a jigsaw puzzle together and sometimes the pieces didn't quite go together... that's just from the outside looking in," continued the Northern Irishman.

"This new US team, they all grew up playing junior golf together. They all love to travel. I think Europe isn't going to have it quite as easy as we've had it the last [30] years."

The 44th Ryder Cup tees off at Marco Simone Golf and Club near Rome on 25 September.

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