Tiger Woods thinks Rory McIlroy will need some time to process the “raw emotion” of his devastating US Open defeat.
With five holes remaining at Pinehurst, McIlroy temporarily had a two-shot lead. However, he bogeyed three of the final four holes, missing two-and-a-half feet on the 16th and three-and-nine-inches on the final hole to finish one shot behind Bryson DeChambeau.
Earlier this week, the four-time Major champion revealed that among the athletes who had sent him letters of support were Rafael Nadal and Michael Jordan, with Woods following suit.
Prior to the 152nd Open Championship, Woods stated in his press conference, “I just sent him a nice text.”
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“I sent it after waiting a week. I wished to give it time to settle. I just let everything settle down for a week since I know he was overwhelmed by everything going on.
When asked what he had written in the message, Woods replied, “Basically, I’m your friend, as you know.” I am aware that this is a trying time.
All of us have experienced that as winners. Everybody loses. Regretfully, it happened very recently, and the intense emotion around it is still there and will likely remain so for some time.
“It’s better for him the sooner he gets back on a horse and gets back into contention, like he did in the Scottish Open last week.”
Even 15-time Major winner Tiger Woods could relate to McIlroy’s discomfort over his par putt on the sixteenth hole.
Yes, without a doubt. All of it—nervous, jittery, uncomfortable—Woods remarked. That’s a component of it. You adore it because of this. To strengthen oneself in that one awkward scenario and bury it, that is why we practice.
“I’ve had a lot of putts go wrong. I have a lot of missed shots. Similar to [Michael] Jordan, who has missed a great deal of game-winning shots in addition to the ones you see.
“The problem is, I still want to make the final putt, and you still make the shot that wins the game.”
When asked about his most painful defeat in his career, Woods mentioned Yang’s victory in the 2009 US PGA Championship. This was the first Major that Woods had lost despite leading after 54 holes.
I had made some really dumb mistakes in the middle of the round, so it took me a little while to get over that, according to Woods.
“I rallied hard towards the end, but it was too late. In the middle, I made far too many blunders. You cannot afford to make the same errors that I did and still hope to succeed in competitions. I’m more intelligent than that.
Interview with the media by Tiger Woods prior to the Open Championship at Royal Troon. Image courtesy of Jane Barlow/PA Wire Woods shot back at Colin Montgomerie, saying he should give up the game, and downplayed rumors of an impending retirement.
The 48-year-old’s most recent professional triumph came later that year at the Zozo Championship. He won the last of his 15 Majors at the 2019 Masters.
But Woods, the 82-time winner of PGA Tour events, has played just nine times and made just three cuts since the 2021 car accident, which caused him to worry that his right leg would have to be amputated.
“There is a time for all sportsmen to say goodbye, but it’s very difficult to tell Tiger it’s time to go,” European Ryder Cup great Montgomerie, 61, said over the weekend after he missed the cut by two strokes at the US Open. Clearly, he still believes he can prevail. We have greater practicality.
Regarding those remarks, Woods said in response, “Well, as a past
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