Golf: Harrington glad to see McIlroy's 'swagger' back ahead of Ryder Cup

(Reuters) - Europe captain Padraig Harrington was pleased to see Rory McIlroy had his "swagger" back at the weekend as he won his first PGA tournament in 18 months and said it bodes well for the Ryder Cup later this year.

Former world number one McIlroy won the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Country Club, his first victory since November 2019, pushing him back up into the top 10 in the world rankings.

"Rory has always been an ebb and flow player," Harrington told reporters at the AT&T Byron Nelson tournament. "When he starts playing well he plays even better.

"The way I look at it is that win last week brings back a bit of that swagger that we all need on the golf course, Rory is a very dangerous player with that. Hopefully he'll be a very dangerous player for at least five more months."

The Ryder Cup will be held at Wisconsin's Whistling Straits from Sept. 24-26 after the biennial competition was postponed last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Europe are the defending champions after beating the United States in 2018.

(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)