Woods says McIlroy better than he was at 22
NEWTOWN SQUARE, PENN. – Tiger Woods said on Tuesday it was fun watching Rory McIlroy run away with the U.S. Open this year and feels the Northern Irishman is a better player than he was at the tender golfing age of 22.
That was pretty good, wasnt it? That was some seriously good playing, Woods told reporters at the AT&T National PGA event he is hosting this week at Aronimink.
McIlroy set a number of U.S. Open scoring records en route to an eight-shot win on June 19 that recalled Woodss 12-shot triumph at the 1997 Masters as a 21-year-old and the Americans 15-shot win at the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.
In 1997 when I was, what, 21, granted I had some success, but I didnt like my golf swing. Thats why I changed it, the 14-time major winner said when asked to compare himself to McIlroy. I felt like at the same age, his swing is definitely better than mine was at the same age.
But in 99 my swing came together and I had a pretty good next two years, Woods said about a period in his career that produced the so-called Tiger Slam in which he held all four major championship titles at the same time.
He needs to obviously continue working on it and continue getting better. And hes still young … so its fun to see someone whos of that age play the way he did and handle himself the way he did after Augusta, Woods added, referring to the Masters in April when McIlroy squandered a four-stroke lead in the final round.
Hey, weve all fallen, weve all made mistakes and played poorly and lost tournaments … Its fun to see someone apply what theyve learned and succeed while doing it.
Woods said he was impressed by how McIlroy, now world number three, kept playing aggressively at Congressional despite holding a big lead.
It was cool to see that he had softer conditions and he was able to go low but also was able to continue pushing it, and thats whats fun. When you have a lead to keep building on it and keep pushing, said Woods.
That was very impressive playing. To do that at a U.S. Open, to be that aggressive the entire time, that was cool to watch. (Editing by Frank Pingue; To query or comment on this story email
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