x
Skip to main content
Golf Logo
InsideGolf Join Now  / Log In
Rory McIlroy visited Tiger Woods and came away with a terrific story
SHARE
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share by Email
Golf Logo
  • News
    • Latest
      • News
      • Features
      • Shows
      • PGA Tour Schedule
    • Series
      • Tour Confidential
      • Monday Finish
      • Hot Mic
      • Rogers Report
    • Shows
      • The Scoop
      • Subpar
      • Seen & Heard
  • Instruction
    • Game Improvement
      • Driving
      • Approach Shots
      • Bunker Shots
      • Short Game
      • Putting
      • Rules
      • Fitness
    • Series
      • Top 100 Teachers
      • Rules Guy
      • The Etiquetteist
      • Emergency 9
    • Shows
      • Warming Up
      • Play Smart
      • Short Game Chef
      • Pros Teaching Joes
  • Gear
    • Clubs
      • Drivers
      • Irons
      • Hybrids
      • Fairway Woods
      • Wedges
      • Putters
    • Other Gear
      • Balls
      • Shoes
      • Apparel
      • Golf Accessories
    • Series
      • ClubTest
      • Winner’s Bag
    • Shows
      • Fully Equipped
  • Travel & Lifestyle
    • Travel
      • Course Finder
      • Courses
      • Resorts
    • Lifestyle
      • Accessories
      • Celebrities
      • Food
      • Style
      • Betting Advice
    • Shows
      • Super Secrets
      • Destination Golf
  • Shop
    • Shop
      • Clubs
      • Shafts
      • Training Aids
      • Balls
      • Bags
      • Technology
      • Apparel
      • Accessories
      • Our Picks
      • Shop All
    • Collections
      • The GOLF Collection
      • The Birdie Juice Collection
      • The Fully Equipped Collection
      • Shop All
  • Newsletters
    • Sign Up for GOLF’s Newsletters
      • Hot Mic
      • Monday Finish
      • Play Smart
      • Our Picks
      • Top Stories
      • Sign Up for All
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Features
    • Shows
    • PGA Tour Schedule
  • Instruction
    • All Instruction
    • Driving
    • Approach Shots
    • Bunker Shots
    • Short Game
    • Putting
    • Rules
    • Fitness
  • Gear
    • All Gear
    • Drivers
    • Irons
    • Hybrids
    • Fairway Woods
    • Wedges
    • Putters
    • Balls
    • Shoes
    • Apparel
    • Golf Accessories
  • Travel & Lifestyle
    • All Travel
    • All Lifestyle
    • Course Finder
    • Courses
    • Resorts
    • Accessories
    • Celebrities
    • Food
    • Style
    • Betting Advice
  • Series
    • Tour Confidential
    • Monday Finish
    • Hot Mic
    • Rogers Report
    • Rules Guy
    • The Etiquetteist
    • Emergency 9
    • ClubTest
    • Winner’s Bag
  • Shows
    • The Scoop
    • Subpar
    • Seen & Heard
    • Warming Up
    • Play Smart
    • Short Game Chef
    • Pros Teaching Joes
    • Fully Equipped
    • Super Secrets
    • Destination Golf
  • Shop
    • Clubs
    • Shafts
    • Training Aids
    • Balls
    • Bags
    • Technology
    • Apparel
    • Accessories
    • The GOLF Collection
    • The Birdie Juice Collection
    • The Fully Equipped Collection
  • Newsletters
    • Hot Mic
    • Monday Finish
    • Play Smart
    • Top Stories
    • Our Picks
    • Sign Up for All
InsideGolf Join Now  / Log In
InsideGolf

Great for yourself...or your Dad

InsideGOLF
News

Rory McIlroy visited Tiger Woods and came away with a terrific story

By: Dylan Dethier
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Follow on Instagram
April 6, 2021
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share by Email
rory mcilroy tiger woods story masters

Rory McIlroy spoke to reporters on Tuesday at the Masters.

Augusta National

AUGUSTA, Ga. — On the Sunday before he flew to Austin for the WGC-Match Play, Rory McIlroy went to see a friend.

Tiger Woods was at home recovering from his February car crash, and McIlroy knew his fellow Floridian would appreciate the visit.

“I spent a couple hours with him, which was nice.  It was good to see him,” McIlroy said. He was also encouraged by Woods’ condition, describing him as in “decent spirits,” which was a good sight to see given the severity of the accident.

“When you hear of these things and you look at the car and you see the crash, it’s like, you think he’s going to be in a hospital bed for six months,” McIlroy said. “But he was actually doing better than that.”

Any golf fan would love to have been a fly on the wall for that visit. What do two generational greats talk about when they’re just hanging out? What did each say to the other?

In the Augusta National press room on Tuesday, it felt too personal to probe any further on that exact topic, so the conversation moved elsewhere. But in the final question of the press conference, I asked him about how he tries to peak for big events — whether he circles them on the calendar or treats them like any other event — and he circled back to his visit with Woods again, sharing a story that had the entire room enthralled.

“I think the circling them on the calendar is probably the best way to go,” he said. “I was thinking about this. So I went over to Tiger’s house a few weeks ago to see him, and in his family room he’s got his trophy cabinet and it’s his 15 major trophies. I said, ‘That’s really cool. Where are all the others?’

News
tiger woods swings
Tiger Woods, as ever, conspicuous in his absence at this 85th Masters
By: Michael Bamberger

“He said, ‘I don’t know.’ I go, ‘What?’ He said, ‘Yeah, my mom has some and a few are in the office and a few are wherever.'”

Woods has famously won 82 PGA Tour events, tied for the most ever. So those 67 non-major trophies are just collecting dust? The moment stuck with McIlroy.

“I was driving home, and I was thinking [those major trophies] are all he cared about. All he cared about. So how easy must that have felt for him to win all the others? That was just always in my mind. He talked about how these are the four weeks that matter. So the weeks that didn’t matter, you know, he racked them up at a pretty fast clip.

“But I’m just thinking to myself, how easy must that have felt for him if all he cared about were four weeks a year.  The other stuff must have been like practice. So that’s a cool perspective to have, right? Yeah — that’s all I could think about on the way home.

“And I was glad he was okay, too,” he added with a smile.

McIlroy grew up idolizing Woods long before he became his peer, his competition and, more recently, his friend. He, like everyone else, recognizes this week’s Masters won’t quite be the same without the game’s most famous golfer.

Instruction
This is Patrick Cantlay’s clever formula for navigating Augusta National
By: Luke Kerr-Dineen

“Yeah, I mean, anytime Tiger Woods tees it up in a golf tournament, it’s better,” he said. “It’s better for the tournament. It’s better for the players that are involved. It’s better for everyone.”

But he’s optimistic about Woods’ recovery. He suggested that with the right rehab, there’s a chance Woods could be back to playing competitive golf — perhaps even for the 2022 Masters.

“Broken bones heal, and he’s just got to take it step by step,” McIlroy said. “But I know he’d love to be here, and I’m sure he’s going to put everything he has into trying to be ready to play here next year.”

McIlroy wasn’t the only Tour pro who’s been able to see Woods in recent days. Justin Thomas, who frequently plays Masters practice rounds with Woods, has been to see him a couple times in recent weeks.

“We texted Friday morning, and he said it’s kind of starting to set in,” Thomas said of Woods. “He’s bummed he’s not here playing practice rounds with us, and we hate it, too.

“I’m very, very lucky that I somehow got thrown into that practice round group with Tiger and Freddie [Couples] the last four years or whatever it is, especially around this place, I just follow them around like puppy dogs.  Wherever they go, that’s where I go after it. If they hit chips from somewhere, I go hit chips from there.”

Thomas, like McIlroy, has always drawn inspiration from Woods. Both golfers continue to do so. But now they find themselves in a position to deliver some inspiration of their own.

“I think myself, J.T., Rickie, D.J., Brooks, all those guys down there, we all have a responsibility to try to keep his spirits up and keep him going,” McIlroy said. “And try to get him back out here.”

Latest In News

3 minutes ago

At Oakmont's brutal U.S. Open, 2 very different fights emerge

2 hours ago

3 excruciating missed cuts (and 3 inspiring makes!) at U.S. Open

4 hours ago

U.S. Open weekend weather: USGA offers refunds for Saturday's round

5 hours ago

Rory McIlroy smashes U.S. Open tee marker, throws club, skips media after making cut

Dylan Dethier

Dylan Dethier

Golf.com Editor

Dylan Dethier is a senior writer for GOLF Magazine/GOLF.com. The Williamstown, Mass. native joined GOLF in 2017 after two years scuffling on the mini-tours. Dethier is a graduate of Williams College, where he majored in English, and he’s the author of 18 in America, which details the year he spent as an 18-year-old living from his car and playing a round of golf in every state.

  • Author Twitter Account
  • Author Instagram Account

Related Articles

News
Rory McIlroy

What happened to Rory McIlroy on Friday?! And airport tears | Weekend 9

By: Nick Piastowski
News
Augusta National

2026 Masters tickets lottery opens (with slight price increase)

By: Josh Berhow
News
rory mcilroy and jim nantz pose next to AT&T Pebble Beach trophy.

Al Michaels' 1-word text to Jim Nantz perfectly captured Rory McIlroy's Masters

By: James Colgan
Food
rory mcilroy after masters win, and 1990 chateau lafite rothshild wine

The fabled wine Rory McIlroy uncorked to celebrate his Masters win

By: Alan Bastable
Gear
Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Adam Scott hold their green Trackmans.

Rory McIlroy just got golf's most exclusive launch monitor. Here's the backstory

By: Jack Hirsh
News
rory mcilroy marking his ball on the green

Rory McIlroy’s handmade ball markers have fascinating backstory

By: Alan Bastable
News
Rory McIlroy walks up to the Masters trophy after winning the 2025 Masters

Why 1 unseen part of Rory McIlroy's Masters celebration spoke to me

By: Josh Schrock
News
Kyle Lowry, NBA player for the Philadelphia 76ers, plays during the Pro-AM, prior to the Truist Championship

What's next for Rory McIlroy? This golf-crazed NBA champion has thoughts

By: Josh Schrock
News
Rory McIlroy

Why Rory McIlroy felt 'the worst' at this year’s Masters ... after a birdie

By: Nick Piastowski
Sign up for GOLF's Newsletters
Get the latest news, the hottest instruction tips, new product releases, golf media insider reports and more delivered directly to your inbox. Choose your favorites now.
Sign Up
Categories
  • News
  • Instruction
  • Gear
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
Services
  • Masthead
  • GOLF Media Kit
  • GOLF Magazine Customer Service
  • TERMS OF SERVICE
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • Opt-out of Ads/Sharing
  • Your Privacy Choices
Social
  • facebook
  • x
  • instagram
  • youtube
Membership
InsideGOLF Logo
More than $140 Value for JUST $39.99

INCLUDES 12 SRIXON Z-STAR XV GOLF BALLS, 1 YR OF GOLF MAGAZINE, $20 FAIRWAY JOCKEY CREDIT - AND MUCH MORE!

LEARN MORE

© 2025 EB Golf Media LLC. An 8AM Golf Affiliated Brand. All Rights Reserved. All of our market picks are independently selected and curated by the editorial team. If you buy a linked product, GOLF.COM may earn a fee. Pricing may vary.

Go to mobile version