Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods are very close friends now, and they always spend plenty of time together away from the golf course.
McIlroy and Woods can relate to each other, due to the intense attention they receive wherever they are around the globe.
In April last year, McIlroy joined Woods and only four other players in the career Grand Slam club, after his win at The Masters.
Where will Tiger Woods finish if he plays The Masters this year?
Tiger is not ruling it out…
The Northern Irishman is currently the biggest star in the game. However, the fame that Woods achieved was on a completely different level.
The 50-year-old is one of the richest athletes of all time and the level of dominance he displayed in professional golf has not been matched by anyone.
However, Woods did go through a rough time after he won the US Open in 2008, when numerous controversies from his personal life emerged.
After his problems came to light in 2009, he did not win again until 2012, and in 2010, McIlroy made a big claim about the man many refer to as the greatest of all time.
Rory McIlroy suggested Tiger Woods had lost his aura before the 2010 Ryder Cup
Back in 2010, the United States were looking to win the Ryder Cup for the second successive time for the first time since 1993.
However, their star man was nowhere near his best and serious questions were being asked about his form.
Ahead of the Ryder Cup at the Celtic Manor Resort 16 years ago, McIlroy said: “I’d love to face him,“ when speaking about Woods.
The Northern Irishman went on to suggest Woods had lost his aura.
“After what’s happened in the last 18 months, I suppose a little bit of that aura is probably gone,“ said McIlroy.
“Unless his game rapidly improves … I think anyone in the European team would fancy their chances against him.“
Woods was clearly not in his best form throughout the 2010 season.
He didn’t win once in the 12 PGA Tour events he played, and recorded only two top-5 finishes.
So McIlroy’s comments ahead of the Ryder Cup were actually understandable. However, the irony of it all was that he ended up winning three of the four matches he played, including a 4&3 victory over Francesco Molinari in the singles.
The 15-time major champion more than silenced his critics in Wales that year, and he sent a timely reminder to McIlroy at the same time.
Tiger Woods is just a normal guy, according to Rory McIlroy
Despite Woods’ brilliance on the golf course throughout the years, McIlroy insists that he’s just a normal guy at heart.
Back in 2010, the five-time major winner was explaining how he began to look at Tiger as one of his peers a while after meeting him for the first time.
If Tiger Woods plays in The Masters this year, will he make the cut or miss the cut?
“Once I met Tiger, even before last year or whatever, you sort of realise that he just is a normal guy,“ he said.
“He’s probably the best player that’s ever lived, and likely the greatest player that’s ever played the game.
“But you watch so much golf on TV, and you see so many things and you watch so many highlights.
“Watching Tiger winning the Masters in ’97 and winning four majors in a row in 2000/2001, you sort of don’t really believe it.
“You put him on such a high pedestal and then you meet the guy and you realise that he’s obviously an unbelievable player, but he’s just a normal guy.“
That may be true, but in his prime out on the course, Tiger Woods was far from ‘normal’. He had a transcending impact on the game of golf and without him, players like McIlroy would not be enjoying the financial rewards that they are today.
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