SEVE DUTY: Rory McIlroy has a tendency to hang his head when he gets down, former U.S. Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger says, and it should be a U.S. priority to beat him, just as earlier American teams tried to take out Seve Ballesteros. (
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The challenge for the U.S. Ryder Cup team, as it embarks on its mission to return the coveted chalice to America when it meets the European team this week, is to cut off the blood supply that has made the Euros’ heart beat faster and stronger than the Americans’ too often in the last two decades of this biannual competition.
And that heart now is Rory McIlroy, says Paul Azinger, the last U.S. captain to lead his team to victory.
As Ryder Cup begins with practice rounds at Medinah outside of Chicago tomorrow, Azinger offered this directive to the U.S. side: Rip the heart out of the Europeans and kill the beast, and that heart is the top-ranked player in the world.
“For first time since Seve [Ballesteros,] the Americans have a player they can look for and hunt down, and that is Rory,’’ Azinger, the 2008 captain, told The Post. “If America can find a guy to beat Rory — like a Jason Dufner or Brandt Snedeker, one of the more obscure players on the team — it changes everything.
“If Rory loses a match — especially if he loses on Day One — the whole dynamic of the European team room will change,’’ Azinger added. “Rory is youthful and enthusiastic and he’s the best player in the world, but he can drop his shoulders a little bit, too. We’ve seen it.
“Rory is the key for America. It’s the first time since Ballesteros the Americans have a guy that they can hunt down. If you find him and beat him, the whole dynamic of the European team room changes.’’
Since the late ’90s, the Europeans have employed that same strategy against the Americans, targeting Tiger Woods. Everyone on the European team wanted a piece of Woods because they knew how devastating a blow a Woods loss would be to the Americans.
“They’ve always hunted for Tiger, the way we always hunted for Seve,’’ Azinger said. “When I was playing, they weren’t looking for any of our players, but we were looking for Seve. He was always easy to find, because he always went out first.’’
For the most part, American captains have done the same thing with Woods — put him out first to lead the troops — and that has backfired when Woods has been beaten, something that would always provide a massive lift to the Europeans.
“Tiger has been the easiest player in the world to find,’’ Azinger said. “I told [captain] Freddie [Couples] before the [2011] Presidents Cup, ‘Tiger has got to go out late.’ He put him out second-to-last.’’
Couples listened, Woods won and so did the Americans.
Azinger said he’s spoken several times with U.S. captain Davis Love III, offering whatever advice he can.
“The challenge is for Davis to create in four days what the Europeans have had in place all their lives,’’ Azinger said. “They’ve created an atmosphere where the players are invested in each other. They’re invested in each other in small groups. The Spanish guys stick together, the Italians stick together, the Irish stick together. They already have small groups that sell out for each other.’’
This is why Azinger created “pods’’ of players — small groups within the team to help the player get to know each other better in and out of competition.
“America has to create that environment,’’ Azinger said. “Europe has it naturally. America has four days to become a team invested in each other. The Europeans have been there since the day they were born — or so it seems like that.’’
Dispelling the notion the American players don’t care, Azinger insisted the Americans badly want to win the Ryder Cup.
“It’s in our head,’’ he said. “We think about it and we want to win. We want to win it as badly as we can want it. But for the Europeans, it’s in their blood, it’s in their heart, it’s their passion. They have to win the Ryder Cup. That’s a big difference.
“We have four days to build a team, the Europeans have been a team since they were born.’’
mark.cannizzaro@nypost.com