Graeme McDowell: My relationship with Rory McIlroy has been strengthened

Graeme McDowell had admitted that the ongoing court case involving Rory McIlroy and management firm Horizon had put a strain on the relationship between the two golfers but that now their friendship has actually been strengthened.

Writing in his column for the BBC Sport website, McDowell also said he hoped that the duo can link up as a partnership in this week's Ryder Cup at Gleneagles.

McDowell wrote: “I will also be delighted if I resume my partnership with Rory McIlroy at Gleneagles and just cannot wait for the unique feeling all 12 of us will have when we meet up in the team room on Monday evening.

“Myself and the other 10 guys would all love to be paired with the world’s number one player. There would be a queue out of the door of players wanting to partner Rory and, absolutely, I would be among them.

“Who wouldn’t want to team up with the guy who has played the best golf all summer?

“Yes, it has been a rough time over the last couple of years on the business side of things for both me and Rory because he has been involved in a lawsuit with my management company.

“And it certainly has put a stress on our relationship, but we have put those things behind us this year. If anything, our friendship has been strengthened by what we have experienced.

“We have talked about it and we would certainly love to renew our partnership again.”

McIlroy has been almost exclusively paired with fellow Northern Irish golfer McDowell in his previous two Ryder Cups, but the world number one said this morning that European captain Paul McGinley may have some novel pairings up his sleeve.

“I’m very lucky that I get on well with a lot of the guys. Graeme McDowell obviously is a big friend of mine, Poults (Ian Poulter) I’ve played with before, Sergio Garcia’s another one where we’ve got a good chemistry.

“So there’s a few guys I can play with. You might see a few interesting pairings next week, I’m not going to give much away here...

“I think we’ve got a good mix of guys and I think the pairings that we’re going to have are going to be very very strong.”

And McIlroy says winning the Ryder Cup would be “the icing on the cake” of an incredible year for him.

He said on Sky Sports’ Goals on Sunday programme: “Personally for me it would just be the icing on the cake of what’s already a fantastic year.

“It feels like everyone involved is just so passionate about it, and even the public get so much more passionate about it than the Majors or individual tournaments.

“So it’s great to be a part of; I’ve been a part of two winning European teams and obviously would love to make that a third this week.”

McIlroy helped Europe lift the cup in 2010 and 2012 and the 25-year-old revealed they were the best experiences of his career as he was able to celebrate victory as part of a team.

However, McIlroy acknowledges that playing in a team brings different pressures and he also understands just how much will be expected of him in Scotland this week.

He said: “I’m gonna have to be one of the leaders and be expected to lead by example, and that’s a big responsibility, but one I want to try and handle and try and get a few points on the board early for the team.

“It’s way better to win as part of a team. The best experiences in my golf career have been the Ryder Cup and to be able to celebrate with all these guys. It’s very special.”