Ryder Cup: Favourites tag won’t lead to European complacency, says McDowell

United States captain Tom Watson has repeatedly said he is looking to take down “big dogs” McIlroy and Poulter, the former being the world No 1 and four-time major winner and the latter earning the nickname ‘Mr Ryder Cup’ due to his heroics in the biennial contest.

Poulter’s most recent heroics inspired the ‘Miracle at Medinah’ in 2012, when Europe recovered from 10-6 down on the final day to claim a remarkable seventh win in the last nine contests.

The home side are rated odds-on favourites to improve that statistic further at Gleneagles this weekend, but McDowell insists they are not acting as such and is well aware of how determined the American side are to make amends for what happened two years ago.

“I think it’s an unusual scenario for the Europeans to be favourites coming into a Ryder Cup,” said McDowell. “It’s not a sort of label that we take lightly. We are very proud of the label.

“We watched a video in the team room on Monday night which really described how far the European Tour had come, all the way back from the 1950s and ‘60s and getting drummed year-in and year-out in the Ryder Cup, to the turning point with (Tony) Jacklin and Seve (Ballesteros) and everything that went on in that period when the Europeans started to realise that perhaps they could compete on the global stage and they could compete in Ryder Cups, to the present day.

“We are proud of the label, but we are also very aware that this is a big Ryder Cup this week, because we do feel the need for the US team to win one. We certainly feel like they will be coming at us 100 per cent this weekend and we have to be ready for that. We are not taking them lightly.”

European captain Paul McGinley was not quite sure what Watson meant about “targeting” opposition players in a non-contact sport, but in any case he has no concerns that McIlroy and Poulter can cope with whatever is thrown at them.

“The two guys earned that reputation,” McGinley said. “They have played so well. Rory to be No 1 in the world and Ian with his performances in the Ryder Cup. It’s not something that we should be afraid of or embarrassed about.

“I can tell you one thing, it’s a real motivating factor for both of them that they know that it’s a big focus on the Americans playing them.”