'F*****g hell, I’ve just given Tiger Covid' - Rory McIlroy on fear he gave Woods coronavirus before Open
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Published 27/11/2022 at 15:23 GMT
Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods spend a decent chunk of time in each other's company, and it appears being in close proximity was an issue earlier in the year as McIlroy thinks he gave the 15-time major champion Covid-19 prior to the Open Championship. They were playing in a charity event and later shared a helicopter, which could have been where the virus was passed on.
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Rory McIlroy thinks he gave Tiger Woods Covid-19 prior to this year’s Open Championship.
Woods and McIlroy have forged a close association in recent years, becoming regular playing partners.
Prior to this year’s Open at St Andrews, Woods and McIlroy took part in JP McManus’ charity event at Adare Manor.
While a host of players limbered up for St Andrews by playing in the Scottish Open at the Renaissance Club, Woods and McIlroy remained in Ireland to put the finishing touches to their preparations on the Irish Links course.
With McManus’ helicopter at their disposal, Woods and McIlroy took a trip to Ballybunion before returning to Adare Manor.
It was at lunch that day that McIlroy began to feel unwell, and later in the evening the realisation dawned that he may have passed on Covid to the 15-time major winner.
“Tiger needed a rest on Wednesday,” McIlroy said in a wide-ranging interview with the Irish Independent. “We had played two days of golf at Adare and the plan was to play Ballybunion on Thursday.
“I woke up that morning feeling a bit achy but didn’t really think anything of it.
“JP gave us his chopper and we went down with Sean [O'Flaherty, McIlroy’s manager] and Tiger’s manager, Rob [McNamara].
“We got around fine, flew back to Adare for lunch and as I’m getting up from the table I’m sore and stiff and super tired.
“I said to Erica [McIlroy’s wife] ‘I’m feeling a bit weird, I’m just going upstairs for a lie down for a bit'.
“I slept for maybe two hours and the sweat was just pouring off me, then Erica took my temperature and it was sky high.
“I rang Tiger: ‘I’m not feeling so good here’. And he goes ‘oh, I feel okay’. But he texted me at 10 o’clock that night with chills and fever. I’m like ‘f*****g hell, I’ve just given Tiger Covid. This is horrendous!’
“So we both had Covid going into the Open.”
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McIlroy says he had no sense of taste for the entire week of the Open Championship.
"I had planned to go to St Andrews early but ended up quarantining at Adare, and it probably took me until the Sunday to start feeling better," he said. "If it had happened last year, with everything that was going on in my game, I would have been in a panic, but I was in a good place and thought, ‘I’ll be fine'.
"On Tuesday night I went to the Champions Dinner and it was lovely. I was sitting there drinking water and they poured a glass of wine, a lovely 2005 Bordeaux, and I was like, ‘Ahh, I’ll just have a little sip,’ but I couldn’t taste it.
"The whole week of the Open I didn’t have any taste, and everything smelled like vinegar to me. Everything. It was really strange."
Woods missed the cut at the Open, while McIlroy suffered an agonising defeat after being reeled in by Cameron Smith.
McIlroy’s season ended on a high however as he won the FedEx Cup, topped the DP World Tour rankings to claim the Harry Vardon Trophy, and returned to No. 1 in the world.
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