Rory McIlroy looking forward to seeing Tiger Woods return
Thursday 8 September 2016 12:46, UK
Rory McIlroy has welcomed the impending return of Tiger Woods to competitive golf, but warned against expectations of the former world No 1 getting back to his best.
Woods announced that he intends to tee up in the Safeway Open next month after more than a year out of action following back surgery, and the news was warmly received by McIlroy and world No 1 Jason Day.
Speaking ahead of this week's BMW Championship, McIlroy admitted he has missed the increased atmosphere created wherever Woods is in the field, although insisted he will be relieved to avoid the "circus" that will inevitably surround his comeback at Silverado in California.
"I have sort of known that for a while that he was trying to come back for Napa, so I'm not that surprised," said McIlroy, who picked up his first PGA Tour title in 16 months at last week's Deutsche Bank Championship.
"Tiger seems to be doing better. I think he was probably pretty close to making a comeback earlier on this year, but I think he's learned from previous years that you have to really take time to let things heal and really be 100 per cent before getting back out here.
"It's different trying to get back from an injury at 40 years old than it is when you're in your 20s or early 30's. I think that's why it's been over a year since we have seen him on a golf course and he's really taken the conservative approach and I think that's the right approach.
"So it will be great to see him back again, but I'm sort of glad I'm not there that week. It's going to be a nice week off for me, it's going to be a bit of a circus. But it's good to see him back and healthy and it will be exciting to see him on the course again.
"I think you miss the buzz that he creates at tournaments. Tiger brings an aura and an atmosphere to a tournament that no one else in golf can bring. Hopefully he can stay healthy for a prolonged period of time and give it one last go."
Woods has plummeted to 711th in the world during his absence, and McIlroy believes it will take time for him to make significant strides back up the rankings.
McIlroy added: "There's been a handful of great athletes in the world in my lifetime - or in any of our lifetimes - that have put up numbers and consistent years like Tiger did over a 10-year period. In that span he won 14 major championships and 80 PGA Tour events, so whenever he doesn't do that people are going to wonder what's wrong.
"People forget how good he was. That 10-year stretch of golf is the best stretch of golf we have ever seen on the planet by anyone. I don't care what anyone says about Jack Nicklaus' record or anyone else, that 10-year stretch of golf was the best. And I don't know if anyone's going to emulate that at all, but I think people need to remember that.
"He is the greatest player that has ever played this game. I can somewhat relate to the expectations, not as much as him obviously, because my numbers don't even start to match what his are. But it's hard. People are going to expect him to go out at Napa and play well and it's going to take time.
"It's a process and sometimes you have to take the bigger picture and take the longer view of things and I think that's what Tiger started to do with his injury and I'm sure he's sort of thinking play at Napa, but the long-term goal is if he can get himself ready for the Masters next year, that's where he wants to be."
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