Rory McIlroy has admitted he gave Tiger Woods COVID-19 ahead of his return to The Open Championship in July. Woods has been forced to revert to a part-time career on the PGA Tour, due to the effects of the injuries he sustained in a car accident in February 2021.
14 months on from his crash, the 15-time major champion made a fairytale return to Augusta for the Masters in April, before turning out at the PGA Championship a month later. Woods' most anticipated comeback though came at the 150th Open at St Andrews in July, the course in which he had won two of his three Claret Jugs.
His close friend and fellow player McIlroy however nearly caused havoc on the American star's return to Scotland, after the duo headed out to Ireland to play a couple of weeks before.
In an interview with The Independent , the Northern Irishman opened up on his preparations in Ireland with Woods ahead of the fourth major of the year, and admitted to giving the 82-time PGA Tour winner COVID-19 during the build-up to St Andrews. McIlroy said: "Tiger needed a rest on Wednesday.
"We had played two days of golf at Adare [Manor] and the plan was to play Ballybunion on Thursday. I woke up that morning feeling a bit achy but didn't really think anything of it. JP [McManus] gave us his chopper and we went down with Sean [O'Flaherty, McIlroy's manager] and Tiger's manager, Rob [McNamara]. We got around fine, flew back to Adare for lunch and as I'm getting up from the table, I'm sore and stiff and super tired.
"I said to Erica (McIlroy's wife), 'I'm feeling a bit weird. I'm just going upstairs to lie down for a bit.' I slept for maybe two hours and the sweat was just pouring off me, then Erica took my temperature and it was sky high. I rang Tiger: 'I'm not feeling so good here.' And he goes, 'Oh, I feel okay.'"
Admitting that he was worried he had written off Woods' highly anticipated return to St Andrews, he went on: "But he texted me at 10 o'clock that night, chills, fever, and I'm like, 'F****** hell, I've just given Tiger COVID! This is horrendous!' So we both had COVID going into The Open."
What tournaments do you want to see Tiger Woods play in 2023? Let us know in the comments section below.
Fortunately for Woods, McIlroy and the rest of the golfing world, the three-time Open champion did tee it up at the Old Course two weeks later. Whilst the American made the cut at both the Masters and PGA Championship, it was not to be for Woods, as his tournament ended after the opening two rounds in Scotland.
Despite the disappointment, Woods was given a reception for the ages as he made his way up the famous 18th fairway in his second round. The crowd - including McIlroy, who was on the adjacent first fairway - rose to their feet to cheer the golfing legend towards the green, whilst an emotional Woods fought back the tears to cap off an emotional week.
