Rory McIlroy believes Tiger Woods has 'mellowed as a person'
Rory McIlroy believes that Tiger Woods winning only creates a positive impact on golf.
Rory McIlroy believes that Tiger Woods winning creates a positive impact on everyone involved in the sport, following his victory at the ZOZO Championship. McIlroy is currently in Shanghai for the upcoming WGC HSBC Champions tournament in the last event of the PGA Tour's Asian swing, where he was speaking to the media and discussing Woods' victory last week.
The Northern Irishman believes that Woods playing well is only a good thing for the sport, mainly due to the fact that so many players look up to him, including those currently playing on Tour.
"If Tiger’s doing well, the game of golf in general thrives," he said. "It’s good for everyone involved, and I think we’re happy for him. He’s been through a lot in terms of injuries and some of the breaks that he’s had to take. I think because he has opened up a little bit, you know, people know what he’s been through and are happy that he’s got through the other side of it and is playing great again."
During the ZOZO Championship last week, play was suspended due to heavy rain fall, meaning a lot of the field had nothing to do for the day, so were spending time together socially. Some of the American players got stuck in Dominos due to the rainfall, the group of Woods, Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Gary Woodland, Bubba Watson and Ryan Palmer. McIlroy used this story as an example of the change we are seeing in Woods, as he believes Woods wouldn't have taken part in such a social outing years ago.
"That’s something that he never would have done," McIlroy said.
Woods was an idol for McIlroy growing up, but the 30-year-old has become close friends with the 15-time major champion and believes that he has seen a side to Woods that not many other professionals have.
"I’ve seen in the private moments who he is as a person and what a great dad he is, and you know, how seriously he takes that side of his life, as well," McIlroy said. "It’s been great to see. You know, I think previously in his career, he didn’t take the camaraderie or the being one of the guys as seriously as he does now as he transitions to this latter part of his career where he’s captaining teams and he’s being part of Presidents Cups, Ryder Cups, and almost like mentoring some of these guys through the fact that he’s taken Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler and these guys under his wing a little bit and spends time with them in Florida. He’s definitely mellowed as a person, and probably sees the bigger picture a little more than he used to, and that’s a great thing."
