Rory McIlroy unveils new TGL teammate: "I'm breaking some news"

Rory McIlroy has revealed his Boston Common Golf side have signed a new PGA Tour player ahead of the second season of TGL. 

McIlroy and Tiger Woods' indoor golf league returns to our screens on 28 December. 

New York's Rickie Fowler, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Xander Schauffele and Cameron Young will face off against Atlanta's Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay, Billy Horschel and Lucas Glover in the opening match. 

Atlanta were crowned the inaugural winners but McIlroy's side and Woods' Jupiter Links crashed out before the playoffs. 

McIlroy's team, made up of Hideki Matsuyama, Adam Scott and United States Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley, did not win a single game from their six matches. 

But they have recruited 24-year-old Michael Thorbjornsen. 

Asked by Fried Egg Golf how the Ballfrogs are going to get a win, McIlroy said: "Well, we have a new member of the team who I practiced with this morning, Michael Thorbjornsen. 

"So, we've got some fresh blood. I'm breaking some news. So we have some fresh blood, I think that could make the difference."

McIlroy confirmed that no player is getting the boot, but the team is only expanding because Matsuyama and Scott are "world travellers". 

"Hideki will be in Japan and Adam will be in Australia for the first game that we play so Michael has come in and we're feeling pretty good."

McIlroy joked that there was some lingering Ryder Cup beef between himself and Bradley for "a week or two" but they've now gotten past that. 

"We should've got Viktor Hovland in there [TGL] to fake an injury," McIlroy joked, referencing the fact the Norwegian was controversially forced to sit out the final day of the Ryder Cup action owing to a neck injury. 

"I think Keegan was put in a tough spot"

McIlroy put in a talismanic Ryder Cup performance for Europe this September at Bethpage Black in New York. 

Luke Donald's dozen enjoyed a dream two days in the Big Apple, racing into a seven-point lead ahead of the Sunday singles before limping over the line 15-13. 

The Northern Irishman, 36, contributed 3.5 points to the total, losing only in his Sunday singles contest to the top-ranked Scottie Scheffler on the final hole. 

Scheffler had a miserable Ryder Cup, losing all four of his matches over the first two days of the biennial contest.

Plenty has been made of Keegan Bradley's captaincy and the American has admitted he made plenty of mistakes, chief of which was the course set-up. 

McIlroy told TFE that he believed Bradley was put in a "tough spot". 

"It came so out of left field that he was offered this job," McIlroy said. 

"Especially as one of the best players in the world in his prime. It was an impossible position to be put in to, especially after winning the Travelers. 

"It was a really tough one for Keegan. I think, it's easy in hindsight to say, [but] could they have used him? Who knows."

McIlroy admitted that his previous comments about Bradley being unable to take on both roles was "gamesmanship". 

"Obviously I'm trying to get in their heads and do anything I can to be that person for Europe but at the same time it was an impossible position to be put in to and I felt for him that week, especially when he was saying that all he wanted to do was be out their playing with the guys. I felt for him."

Europe have now won back-to-back Ryder Cups and, since 2008, have tasted victory on six occasions. 

Plenty has been made about the fact US players are now compensated by the PGA of America for their participation, but McIlroy believes there are some "structural" differences that are key to Europe's success.

"The fact that we have people that work 24/7 on the Ryder Cup all year, and we see these people, weekly if not monthly at European Tour events and the American team don't quite have that so we feel like we've created this in-built advantage that maybe one the USA re-jig that and come up with a similar structure."