Rory McIlroy to GB&I Walker Cup team: ‘Please beat them … we’re going to beat them at Bethpage’

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Before beginning their quest to win the 50th Walker Cup and become just the third visiting side ever to win on U.S. soil, the Great Britain and Ireland team received some motivation from a former Walker Cupper and Ryder Cup legend.

Players received on Friday evening, just hours before teeing off in Saturday morning foursomes at Cypreas Point, about a minute-long video from Rory McIlroy, who competed for the losing side in the 2007 Walker Cup at Royal County Down.

McIlroy was also a member of the 2012 Ryder Cup team that won in comeback fashion at Medinah. Ian Poulter, also a key player from that 2012 European team, is on site at Cypress Point, watching his son, Luke, a member of this year’s GB&I squad. (Matt Kuchar, on the losing end at Medinah, is also at Cypress as a spectator along with his son, Cameron, a TCU commit.)

“As someone who played a Walker Cup and wasn’t able to quite get it done, and then to go on to play Ryder Cups and be able to beat the Yanks in their own backyard, nothing feels better,” said McIlroy, who is set to play in his eighth Ryder Cup later this month at Bethpage Black.

Last night before the start of the #WalkerCup, the GB&I team were sent a lengthy video from Rory McIlroy.

“As someone who played a Walker Cup and wasn’t able to quite get it done, and then to go on to play Ryder Cups and be able to beat the Yanks in their own backyard, nothing… pic.twitter.com/khOqzpZhQV

— Brentley Romine (@BrentleyGC) September 6, 2025

He then closed with this confident message: “Please beat them because I know we’re going to beat them at Bethpage.”