The Northern Irish golfer and his wife Erica Stoll were verbally abused by fans at last year's event at Bethpage Black last year and he feels that he and his team-mates must "set the tone" when it comes to crowd behaviour at the Adare Manor course in Ireland next year.

McIlroy said: "That's up to the home team to set the tone early on in the week. If you see something or you hear something, you point it out straight away.

"It's not the way the Ryder Cup should be played. It's not in the spirit of why the Ryder Cup was created in the first place.

"We'll obviously do everything we can to make sure that the game and the matches are played in the right spirit."

McIlroy will play his first PGA Tour event of the year this week at the AT+T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and is confident he will not get a hostile reception from American fans this time around as he defends his title.

The five-time major winner said: "I would think that the Ryder Cup was a one-off and it was because I was on the opposing team. I would hope not. That remains to be seen.

"The reception that I get most places that I go to play is usually amazing and I'm deeply grateful for that. The Ryder Cup was just a one-off."

McIlroy is only behind Scottie Scheffler in the world rankings but knows he must be more consistent if he is to overtake the American ace at the top.

The world number two said: "I'll never stop singing Scottie's praises because he's incredible at what he's doing and the way he does it. I've had nice runs like that, but I've always been a little more up and down.

"Anyone that wants to catch Scottie or get anywhere close is going to have to consistently bring that sort of game week in and week out like he does. He's really the first one since Tiger [Woods] that's doing this."