Please register to access this content.
To continue viewing the content you love, please sign in or create a new account
Dismiss
This content is for our paying subscribers only

Rory McIlroy on Tiger Woods: ‘Even from the hospital bed he’s still giving me some heat’

Woods improving after car crash and could be sent home in a week



Rory McIlroy shakes hands with Tiger Woods in 2012. Their friendship and rivalry goes way back.
Image Credit: AP/Charles Rex Arbogast

Rory McIlroy has given an update on fellow golfer Tiger Woods, two weeks after the 45-year-old suffered serious injuries in a near-fatal car crash in Los Angeles.

On February 23, Woods shattered his ankle and fractured his leg in a single-vehicle collision in California. McIlroy says Woods is “doing better” and could be sent home in as little as a week’s time.

In fact, Woods is in good enough spirits to rib McIlroy from his hospital bed and question him on his form.

“I’ve spoken to him a little bit, he’s doing better. You know, I think all the guys have reached out to him, and hopefully if things go well over the next week or so, he might be able to get home and start recovery at home, which would be great for him [to] see his kids, see his family,” McIlroy said, during an interview with the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.

Quizzed by Fallon over whether or not Woods has been watching him play, McIlroy cracked a smile.

Advertisement

“Yeah, pretty much,” he said. “He texted me some words of encouragement before the final round of Bay Hill on Sunday and things didn’t quite go to plan, and he was the first one to text me and be like, ’What’s going on here?’” revealed McIlroy.

“So even from the hospital bed, he’s still giving me some heat,” he laughed.

Earlier, McIlroy and other golfers decided to wear Woods signature red and black during the final round of the WGC-Workday championship to deliver a “sign of solidarity”.

They wanted to show “how we appreciate him so much, everything he’s done for the game. Everyone coming out in their red and black on Sunday a couple weeks ago was just a very small way to show that we are thinking about him,” said McIlroy.

Advertisement