Rory McIlroy lands Keegan Bradley dig as Ryder Cup mind games ramp up at Scottish Open

There was a welcome sight at The Renaissance Club on Friday afternoon, and it wasn't the scorching sunshine after a second splendid day in a row on Scotland's east coast. Instead, it was a smiling Rory McIlroy in front of a microphone, with the Masters victor having shot a five-under second round to leave him T7 overnight at the Scottish Open.

McIlroy has, understandably, been stand-off-ish when it comes to interviews in recent weeks. The 36-year-old described his April win at Augusta as "reaching the top of the mountain", with McIlroy having admitted he was lacking motivation.

However, the golf icon did suggest the upcoming Open Championship in his native Northern Ireland could be the spark he's been searching for post-Career Slam. And then there's the defence of Team Europe's Ryder Cup to come later this year, with McIlroy having already kicked off the mind games with a cheeky dig aimed at his American counterparts.

Speaking at this weekend's Scottish Open, McIlroy took aim at the Team USA dynamic, implying the captain is more of a ceremonial role than an actual leadership position. He said: "It's a different perspective, absolutely. It really feels like it's a player-led team in America. We have our input as players on the European team, but we do have that one figurehead in Luke. I think that's important.

"Even going back to Rome, when the Americans got off to a pretty rough start, because Zach [Johnson] gave the team so much ownership they had no one to look to. They were looking at each other instead of having a focal point: 'Tell us what to do.' That is something Europe has done very, very well. But also the players have allowed the captain to be a captain as well."

It's set to be a historic Ryder Cup for Team USA, given Keegan Bradley will become the first playing captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963. On the American in particular, McIlroy added: "Keegan has played great, he's had a great year.

"I'm not in those conversations and, from an outside perspective, it's going to be interesting to see what the US team does with that. I definitely think the US team is better with Keegan playing than not playing. He's one of the best 12 American players right now. It's going to be an interesting couple of months to see how that all shakes out."