They were once Europe’s inseparable duo, but this week at Gleneagles they had crucial separate roles to play for their fellow Irishman, Paul McGinley, on the final day of the 40th Ryder Cup.
Phil Mickelson and much of the media thought he was touching a sore point when he tried his “litigate” dig at Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell prior to the Ryder Cup matches.
There was widespread expectation in the US media that the pair must have been at loggerheads.
However, McIlroy’s presence at the side of the green and his ecstatic reaction to his long-time friend’s comeback singles victory over Jordan Spieth soon after he had routed Rickie Fowler, who must see McIlroy’s grin in his worst nightmares disproved that lie.
The legal side-issue between the pair, over a management company that no longer represents either of them, has been successfully put aside, and McGinley’s role in that can’t be overstated.
He involved both in his meticulous and thorough strategy from the outset, after McIlroy had helped him get the European captaincy by making his support known during the selection process.
McIlroy’s response was taking on a leadership role himself, so thoroughly dismantling his friend Fowler that any question of a complacency or collapse was erased almost from the off.
“I came out today and played the best golf I’d played all week,” he said. “I know that’s what’s expected of me. Paul has been absolutely immense.
“He’s left no stone unturned, everything’s been tied in from the images we’ve seen in the team room, the people who have spoken to us.
“He’s put so much thought into this, I’m just so glad it’s worked out for him. For me, it puts the icing on the cake of what’s been a fantastic summer.
“I just can’t wait for more Ryder Cups and more great weeks with these guys.”
McDowell, meanwhile, didn’t expect to be the lead-off man in the singles, but embraced the role, just as he had embraced the long-term plan to befriend and nurture Victor Dubuisson the big brother role he no longer needed to play with McIlroy.
“I was surprised, because I saw myself as a guy who plays down the order, but I was proud and honoured,” he said. “It’s a no-frills, no confusion role, you go out and do your job.”
He did so immaculately against Jordan Spieth, despite a shock to the system early on as a birdie putt horseshoed out of the first hole, and having to hole twice to avoid going four down.
“It doesn’t matter where you are, if you’re five up or five down, you win the next hole and send a signal to your team-mates, and that’s what kept me going,” he said.
“Something clicked in my swing on the 10th and then I got going, and I’m so proud to get that point.”
Having turned the match around, and perhaps still with the feeling he hadn’t played as he hoped at Medinah, McDowell’s celebration on the 17th when he closed out his match was uncharacteristically voluble.
“This tournament does that to you,” he said.
“It’s very, very special to wear that shirt and the special bonds you form in the team room.”