Rory McIlroy Says He'll Borrow from Novak Djokovic's Playbook at Bethpage

Rory McIlroy is a huge tennis fan. Just a few weeks ago, he finished his final round of the TOUR Championship in Atlanta, and just a few hours later he was seen in the crowd at the U.S. Open in New York. The guy doesn’t mess around.

With just a few weeks left before he leads Team Europe into a hostile environment at Bethpage Black for the 45th Ryder Cup, McIlroy is back on his home soil for the Irish Open at the K Club, the very course where he won the 2016 edition of the tournament.

“Great to be back,” he told the media on Wednesday. “I've got plenty of nice memories from the K Club from over the years, from attending the Ryder Cup as a 17-year-old to obviously winning the Irish Open in 2016. Yeah, it's been a great place for me.”

Despite the FedExCup Playoffs and several events across the pond, McIlroy’s focus has been dialed in on the biennial event since The Open at Portrush.

“Honestly, since The Open passed, (the Ryder Cup is) the one thing I've really been looking towards and making sure my game is in the best possible shape,” he said. “I think we have a wonderful opportunity to do something—honestly, one of the greatest achievements in the game right now is to win an away Ryder Cup, and I think this European team has a great opportunity to do that.”

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And he’s been around long enough, played in enough of these things to know that the Europeans are going to have their hands full with the American fans who will be roaming the ropes at Bethpage—especially New York fans.

“We know it's going to be a tough task,” McIlroy said. “There's a reason why every Ryder Cup for the last 10 years has went to the home team…I'm excited for the opportunity. I'm also excited for the challenge too. We know it's going to be a very challenging environment to play in, but that's what we want. The best players want to challenge themselves, and that's what it's going to be.”

So, how’s he planning on dealing with the impending rowdiness? He’ll take a page out of tennis legend Novak Djokovic’s playbook.

“I guess all we can do is control our response and our reaction to it,” he said. “I watched a little bit of Novak Djokovic last night playing in his match against Taylor Fritz. It was a very pro-American crowd. He's been the best at handling that sort of—he's had to deal with it his whole life, whether it's playing against an American in New York or playing against Roger or Rafa.

“He came and spoke to us a little bit about that stuff last time in Rome. So maybe taking a leaf out of his book and channeling that energy the right way, but again, all we can do is control our reaction and our emotions to it. I think the less we play into it, the better it is for us.”

McIlroy is one of the best in the world at channeling the fans’ energy. He plays off of it so well. It’ll be interesting to see if he can stay in his own world when faced with New York’s finest.

As for the Irish Open, McIlroy’s tournament gets underway early Thursday morning for us on the East Coast. He’ll tee off at 3 a.m. ET of the K Club’s 10th tee.