Rory McIlroy says he gave Tiger Woods COVID earlier than The Open

Rory McIlroy had a season to recollect, however there’s not less than one factor he regrets.

“I am like, ‘F—ing hell, I’ve simply given Tiger COVID!'”

In an interview with the Sunday Unbiased, McIlroy recounted the circumstances that he says led to him and Tiger Woods each getting COVID-19 forward of The Open.

McIlroy stated he first felt signs whereas enjoying in Eire on the JP McManus Professional-Am per week and a half earlier than The Open at St Andrews.

The sphere for the two-day, 36-hole occasion at Adare Manor featured 9 of the highest 10 gamers on the planet on the time, in addition to Woods, however McIlroy stated, “everybody had COVID.”

After enjoying Monday and Tuesday, “Tiger wanted a relaxation on Wednesday. We had performed two days of golf at Adare, and the plan was to play Ballybunion on Thursday,” McIlroy stated. “I awoke that morning feeling a bit achy however did not actually assume something of it. JP [McManus] gave us his chopper, and we went down with (my supervisor) Sean [O’Flaherty] and Tiger’s supervisor, Rob [McNamara]. We acquired round nice, flew again to Adare for lunch and as I am getting up from the desk, I am sore and stiff and tremendous drained. I stated to (my spouse) Erica, ‘I am feeling a bit bizarre. I am simply going upstairs to lie down for a bit.’ I slept for perhaps two hours and the sweat was simply pouring off me, then Erica took my temperature and it was sky excessive. I rang Tiger: ‘I am not feeling so good right here.’ And he goes, ‘Oh, I really feel OK.’ However he texted me at 10 o’clock that night time, chills, fever, and I am like, ‘F—ing hell, I’ve simply given Tiger COVID! That is horrendous!’ So we each had COVID going into The Open.”

Whereas McIlroy by no means stated within the interview that he examined constructive for COVID-19, he described going all the week at The Open with out with the ability to style something.

“On Tuesday night time I went to the Champions Dinner and it was beautiful. I used to be sitting there ingesting water and so they poured a glass of wine, a stunning 2005 Bordeaux, and I used to be like, ‘Ahh, I am going to simply have just a little sip,’ however I could not style it,” McIlroy stated. “The entire week of The Open I did not have any style, and the whole lot smelled like vinegar to me. The whole lot. It was actually unusual.”

Regardless of not being 100%, McIlroy completed third at The Open, whereas Woods ended up lacking the reduce.

McIlroy stored up his robust play all through the season, profitable the FedEx Cup for a file third time, two different tournaments and getting again to No. 1 on the planet rating. Moreover, he was the strongest and most frequent voice in help of the PGA Tour’s problem from Saudi-funded LIV Golf.

Woods has not performed since The Open, however took house a $15 million bonus from the PGA Tour’s Participant Impression Program, which is designed to reward members who’ve “proven to generate essentially the most constructive curiosity within the PGA Tour. He’ll play once more this weekend on the 20-man Hero World Problem, which advantages Woods’ basis.

McIlroy and Woods will crew up collectively on Dec. 10 for The Match, the place they are going to play towards the crew of Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth within the made-for-TV occasion.

Data from ESPN’s Mark Schlabach and The Related Press was used on this report.