This week, Rory McIlroy is competing in the Amgen Irish Open at the K Club. However, the golfer has set his eyes on a bigger prize.McIlroy will be stepping onto Bethpage Black later this month as a part of the 12-man European Ryder Cup squad. During the press conference on Wednesday, the Northern Irishman shared his honest opinion on the level of competition Team Europe would be facing. According to Rory McIlroy, it will be a massive achievement for Team Europe if they win an away Ryder Cup."I think winning an away Ryder Cup... it's up there with one of the biggest achievements in the game... There's a reason that every Ryder Cup for the last 10 years has went to the home team... the home team do have a big advantage from the setup of the golf course... to how partisan the crowd is," he said.Rory McIlroy further acknowledged the strength of Team USA."The Europeans have to achieve something very, very special, but it's also going to be very difficult. They have a very strong team. They're going to have a pretty raucous crowd on their side...," he added.DP World Tour shared a part of McIlroy's interaction with the press today. Take a look at the clip on X (previously Twitter):Apart from the Amgen Irish Open, Rory McIlroy will be competing in the upcoming BMW PGA Championship to gear up for the Ryder Cup. This year, he has won twice on the PGA Tour, clinching victories at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and THE PLAYERS Championship. He also achieved the career grand slam by winning the 2025 Masters Tournament.Rory McIlroy has competed in seven editions of the Ryder Cup and was a part of the winning European squad five times. As of now, the Holywood, Northern Ireland, native has played on US soil three times, so he understands how boisterous crowds can turn out to be.Rory McIlroy admits taking notes from Novak Djokovic for handling boisterous crowdsMcIlroy revealed that he did watch some portions of the US Open on Tuesday night, where Novak Djokovic cruised to a straight-sets victory over Taylor Fritz. Djokovic handled a tough pro-USA crowd at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York. Rory McIlroy praised the Serbian Tennis icon for his crowd-handling skills and admitted to learning from him (via GolfWeek):"He’s been the best at handling that. He’s had to deal with it his whole life, whether it’s playing against an American in New York or playing against Roger or Rafa...""So maybe taking a leaf out of his book and channeling that energy the right way... all we can do is control our reaction and our emotions," he added.Djokovic spoke with the European Ryder Cup squad in 2023. In that year, Team Europe secured a 16½ - 11½ victory over the American squad. McIlroy secured five points from four matches, recording an overall 4-1-0 (1-0-0 in singles, 2-0-0 in foursomes, 1-1-0 in four-ball).