RORY MCILROY has said that he’d rather win a World Golf Championship than the Ryder Cup, ahead of the HSBC Champions which takes place four weeks after the Celtic Manor event.

“When I was a kid growing up practising I never had a putt to win the Ryder Cup, I always had a putt to win the Masters or the Open,” he said.

Last year, McIlroy said that the Ryder Cup was just “an exhibition” and was forced to backtrack on his remarks.

When asked which he’s prefer to win, McIlroy was keen to leave no doubt. “World championship or Ryder Cup? Win a world championship.” He added: “At the end of the day you’re going to be remembered for what you achieve in an individual sport.

Speaking about the remarks he made last year about the Ryder Cup, McIlroy says that his involvement in last year’s Vivendi Trophy has caused him to revise his thoughts about team golf. “That [the Vivendi Trophy] just reminded me how good and special team golf is, I played in a lot of Irish teams and then in the Walker Cup and they are all very important to me. I suppose not playing team golf for a couple of years I’d put it to the back of my mind a bit.

My mind wasn’t completely on team golf when I said what I said. I was trying to concentrate on my own game and that’s sort of why it came out the way it did.”