Rory and Tiger succumb to the magic of The Open at St Andrews
Tiger Woods of the United States, Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, Jack Nicklaus, Georgia Hall of England and Lee Trevino pose with the Claret Jug on the first tee during the Celebration of Champions prior to The 150th Open at St Andrews Old Course on July 11, 2022 in St Andrews, Scotland. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/R&A/R&A via Getty Images)
It's not often two players with 19 major wins sound emotional at a golf tournament, but The Open and St Andrews has that particular effect, and neither Rory McIlroy nor Tiger Woods are immune to the magic of the Old Course.
The game's two superstars joined two-time Open winner in Lee Trevino and former AIG Women's Open champion Georgia Hall in the four-hole Celebration of Champions yesterday and their excitement at being part of the celebrations to mark The 150th Open was palpable.
In fact, McIlroy admits he's being extra careful to avoid any freak injuries between now and Thursday after missing his defence of The Open in 2015.
After winning at Royal Liverpool in 2014, the Holywood star ruptured the ligaments in his left ankle in a soccer kick-about with friends the weekend before the 2015 Open and missed out on the chance to win at the Home of Golf.
"I was a silly boy, but yes, I have not done anything to jeopardise playing in this championship, so I am here, I am healthy and I've just got it to keep myself in good shape for the next couple of days and I'm looking forward to teeing off on Thursday," McIlroy said.
He also confessed it was emotional just to play the first, second, 17th and 18th with his boyhood hero Woods having done a project on his idol when in primary school at St Patrick's Primary School in Holywood.
"Yeah, it's sort of a little bit emotional in a way; it's incredible," he said. "If you were to tell 10-year-old Rory back then you'd be doing this, I wouldn't have believed you.
"So to get my name on the Claret Jug, to be as close as I am with my hero growing up and to be a part of something like this with Lee Trevino, Georgia Hall, all the great champions that are gathered here today, to do the champions dinner in the R&A clubhouse tomorrow, to have Jack Nicklaus on the first tee, it's just pinch yourself moments and it's just really really cool and I am so privileged and humbled to be part of it all."
The world number two is the favourite to win his second Claret Jug this week and while he explained you can be aggressive off the tee given the firmness of the Old Course, he predicts players will lay back to generate more spin from longer approaches.
"For example, this hole, the second, if you drive it up the fairway and the pin is on the left side, it's going to be very hard to get your ball close to the pin," he told Sky Sport. "So you're going to see quite a few guys laying back because you are going to get full shots into greens to be able to at least create some spin and get the ball close to some of these hole positions because, quite frankly, the only defence St Andrews has these days is tucking pins away and making it hard to get to them."
Woods made his Open debut at St Andrews in 1995, completed the career Grand Slam here in 2005 and went on to win a third Claret Jug the following year at Hoylake.
He looks to be struggling with the leg injuries he suffered in that car crash 16 months ago, but he sounded thrilled just to be back at the scene of two of his greatest triumphs.
"There's nothing else like it," Woods said. "For me, I was lucky enough to complete the career Grand Slam here in 2000, too, so that made it even more special. But to do it here at the Home of Golf, Jack (Nicklaus) said it - there is nothing quite like being a champion at the Home of Golf. There's no other feeling (like it)."
The 15-time major winner explained the beauty of the game to Sky Sports when asked why he'd encourage any youngster who hadn't yet tried it, to take up the game.
"One, it's just so much fun to play," he said. "You play with all different generations. I mean, you've got, I wouldn't say kids, but Rory (33 years old) is a kid compared to me, and with Lee' Buck' (Trevino, 82 years old) out here 80-something years old, you've got amateurs out here playing, it's just fantastic.
"It's a generational thing. You can play golf in the same group and have a great time together, and there's no reason why you can't enjoy it."
As for his health, he admitted he was just making sure he didn't wear himself out before the start.
"Feeling good," he said. "Game day is Thursday, so I've got to pace myself until then and then get after it, and hopefully, we can put ourselves in contention come the back nine on Sunday."
