Rory McIlroy embraces his role as one of Team Europe's leaders, in part because of his world No. 3 ranking but also because there are six first-time Ryder Cup players on his side this week at Hazeltine National.
It doesn't hurt that McIlroy 1) is coming off a pulsing playoff victory over Team USA member Ryan Moore at the Tour Championship, good for the $10 million FedEx Cup bonus, and 2) has never played on a losing Ryder Cup side.
And though he's says, "I'm confident in my game; I'm confident coming in here," he also knows there's nothing that can prepare a first-time player, especially this year when "It's going to be a sea of red out there and we're obviously the away team, the underdog.