Tiger Woods has revealed Rory McIlroy sought advice from him after the football accident which has prevented the world No1 from defending the Open Championship that starts on Thursday. Woods, in fact, knew of McIlroy’s woe days before it was revealed to the public.
McIlroy ruptured left ankle ligaments during a kickabout with friends on the outskirts of Belfast last Saturday. No timescale has been placed on the 26-year-old’s return to competitive golf but he will be the notable absentee when the 144th Open begins at St Andrews. His ability to defend the US PGA Championship next month is, for now, in doubt.
Woods took to the Old Course on Saturday, where he disclosed McIlroy had been in immediate contact. The 14-times major winner’s career has been hampered by serious injury in the past.
“He sent me a photo the day he did it,” Woods told ESPN.
“We talked about it for a little bit. He said: ‘You’ve been through a lot of injuries over the years.’ So he picked my brain a little bit. We had a good talk.
“He’s doing the right thing, taking care of his body first before he gets back out here. No doubt he’s frustrated that he’s not going to be able to play in the Open Championship, especially here at St Andrews. And how well he’s been playing of late, and this golf course really does set up well for him, too.
“That’s the way it goes. We all get injured at one point in time. Sometimes it’s through the sport or sometimes it’s through fun activities. You just never know.”
Woods insists his own game is well placed to compete for the Claret Jug, despite a major drought which has stretched to more than seven years. Woods has not won an Open since 2006 but other strands of history are on his side; he won by eight and five shots respectively when St Andrews hosted the third major of the year in 2000 and 2005.
“This is my favourite course on earth,” he insisted. “I love it. And just to return here with all the memories I have, it never gets old. I love coming back. All the memories come rushing back.”
This time around, he admitted to surprise over course conditions which are unusual for links in summer. “I was shocked,” Woods explained. “I had seen photos of it a month ago. It was bone dry. It looked like it was going to be one of those dust bowls again; hard, fast, like the years I’ve played St Andrews. It’s changed. They got big rain and a lot of sun. It’s totally changed.
“I’m going to have to do a little bit of feel around the greens, my putting. I wasn’t expecting the firmness to be that soft. We made ball marks on the greens. I don’t ever remember making ball marks around this place.”
Woods spent half an hour offering range advice to, and played the closing three Old Course holes, with a group of five specially selected teenage amateur players.
The golfer’s main sponsor, Nike, was behind the scene which saw a crowd quickly swell to around 300 by the time the group appeared on the 18th.
Afterwards, Woods reaffirmed the confidence he exuded after he closed with a bogey-free 67 at the Greenbrier Classic last Sunday.
Prior to that, his year had been one marked only by struggles, including at the US Open where he missed the cut at an aggregate of 16 over par after rounds of 80 and 76.
“I feel good,” he said. “Sunday at Greenbrier is probably the best I hit it in two years. That was fun.
“It sounds crazy when I told everyone at Greenbrier that I felt close, after the scores I shot at the Memorial and the US Open, I just didn’t quite have the feel yet. I shifted the baseline so much I just didn’t quite have the feel yet.
“I put it together at Greenbrier and hit it really good. [Woods’s coach] Chris [Como] told me it was the first time I led the field in proximity to the hole with my iron game.
“I feel like everything’s coming around. I still need to get a feel for how this golf course is chasing. I wasn’t expecting it to be this soft.
“The shot selections I was working on last week and some of the trajectories I was envisioning on certain holes and certain winds and the ball chasing and what I need to do to make it move on the ground. It’s going to be different. It’s going to be more forced carries than I was expecting coming into the event.”
