The Open Championship tees off on Thursday, marking the 10-year anniversary of Rory McIlroy’s last major championship victory, at the 2014 British Open. McIlroy has come close to winning since then as his 21 top-10 finishes at subsequent majors are the most in all of golf, and he’s had a runner-up at a major tournament in each of the past three seasons.
That includes a second-place finish at this year’s U.S. Open when McIlroy appeared to be on his way to ending his major championship drought. He held a lead with just four holes remaining before bogeying three of those final four, which included two missed putts inside of 4 feet. That dropped McIlroy to second, with Bryson DeChambeau reaching the top of the leaderboard. Afterwards, McIlroy retreated from the spotlight.
He skipped out on the post-tournament media session, withdrew from the following week’s PGA Tour event, and even ghosted the, perhaps, greatest golfer of all time. McIlroy, who boasts a long-standing friendship with 15-time major winner Tiger Woods, admitted that Woods texted him a couple of days after McIlroy’s collapse at the U.S. Open. But the Irishman never responded in text and didn’t even know about it until the two of them got together on the grounds of Royal Troon Golf Club, which is hosting this week’s Open Championship.
Like Woods, McIlroy was introduced to golf very young and was seen as a child prodigy. They are two of the three golfers – alongside Jack Nicklaus – to win four majors before the age of 25, and McIlroy’s relationship with Woods goes back decades.
“Tiger has been nothing but incredible to me over the course of my career in the good moments and the bad. He sent me an incredible message after [The Open at] St. Andrews in 2022,” McIlroy said, referencing that year’s British Open when he was a co-leader after the third round only to finish the tournament in third place.
“I met Tiger when I was 15 years old, and I’ve built up a great relationship with him, his whole family. He really enjoys spending time with my mom and dad as well. So, it means a lot that he reached out, and it means a lot that he waited a few days to reach out. Had he not waited that long, I probably would have got it. I caught up with him earlier. It’s always nice when your hero and the guy that you had on your bedroom wall is reaching out and offering words of encouragement.”
As for what was in the original message that Woods sent McIlroy, Woods wouldn’t reveal all of the details but explained why he waited a few days to send it.
“I just sent him a nice text, that was it. I waited a week before I sent it as I just wanted to let it calm down,” stated Woods. “I know he’s being besieged by a lot of different things going on – just let it cool down for a week. I just sent him a nice text, that’s it.”
While McIlroy didn’t get Woods’ text message, he did receive messages from others considered G.O.A.T.s of their sports. McIlroy said he did get texts of support from Hall of Fame basketball player Michael Jordan, as well as 22-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal. McIlroy said Jordan reminded him of how many game-winning shots he missed in his career, so every athlete has been in the same position as McIlroy in not coming through when it mattered the most.
McIlroy will attempt to leverage all the support he received – and initially didn’t receive – when he tees off at Royal Troon on Thursday. Even with the disappointment in his last major at the U.S. Open, his results over the last three months would be envied by just about every golfer at this week’s event. Over his last seven tournaments, McIlroy has two victories, a runner-up and a pair of fourth-place finishes. He’s placed in the top 15 in all seven starts, which has him as the second betting favorite for this week’s major, trailing only the No. 1 ranked golfer in the world, Scottie Scheffler.
Amongst the four majors, the Open Championship is where McIlroy has found his name near the top of the leaderboard the most often. He has six career top-five finishes at the tournament, which is two more than at any other major event. He will attempt to reach the very top of the leaderboard when he tees off at 5:09 a.m. ET on Thursday, in a group that also features Max Homa and Tyrrell Hatton.
