Rory McIlroy opens up on his close relationship with Tiger Woods
The Irish Independent published a fascinating, must-read interview with Rory McIlroy, in which the four-time major champion reflects on the controversy surrounding his decision to skip the Olympics, his early struggles as a professional golfer, and his relationship with the man he grew up idolizing - Tiger Woods.
McIlroy said that over the years he's become a trusted confidant of Tiger's, but that his insights into the life of the world's most famous golfer have made him realize that he'd never want to switch places with the 14-time major winner.
“I’ve seen it first-hand. I’ve seen what his life is like in Florida. I’ve played golf with him and said: ‘What are you doing tonight? Do you want to come and have dinner with us?’ And he can’t. He just can’t. And for me that’s unfathomable. I could not live like that. I could not live like that. If someone was to say, ‘You can have 14 Majors and 70 wins but have to deal with that, or nine Majors and 40 wins and stay somewhat the same as you are’, I’d take the second option all day.”
McIlroy also revealed Tiger - who has struggled with insomnia - will send him text messages in the middle of the night, which annoys his fiancée Erica Stoll.
“He’s an intriguing character because you could spend two hours in his company and see four different sides to him. When he’s comfortable and he trusts you — and his trust (sensitivity) is way (higher) than mine — he’s great. He’s thoughtful. He’s smart. He reads. He can’t sleep so that’s all he does — he reads stuff and educates himself on everything. But he struggles to sleep, which I think is an effect of overtraining, so I tell him to calm down sometimes. He’d be texting me at four o’clock in the morning: ‘Up lifting. What are you doing?’
…. Erica actually got pissed off with it. He was texting me in the middle of the night and I was like, ‘Tiger is in the gym’.”
