Former United States captain Paul Azinger believes American will have won half the battle if they can stop Rory McIlroy at Medinah.
World number one McIlroy heads into the 2012 Ryder Cup at Illinois in excellent form having won the Deutsche Bank Championship and the BMW Championship in the space of a couple of weeks.
Azinger, who was the mastermind of the US's Ryder Cup victory over Europe at Valhalla in 2008, says all eyes will no doubt be on McIlroy and stopping the Northern Irishman will be important to America's success.
"The key to this Ryder Cup is Rory McIlroy," Azinger stated. "Just like we used to do with Seve Ballesteros, and Europe has done with Tiger [Woods], the US has to find Rory.
"Figure out what slot he's in, either teaming up with Graeme McDowell or in the singles, and put our hottest players against him.
"And if they aren't our biggest names, all the better, because then they'll have everything to gain. If we can beat Rory, we win this Ryder Cup."
Besides winning the back-to-back FedEx Cup play-offs events, McIlroy also won the USPGA Championship at Kiawah Island in August.
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