Rory McIlroy admits that luck has not been on Tiger Woods’ side when it comes to injuries and he expects the fifteen-time major winner to be absent from next month’s Masters and most likely the entire season.
Woods announced on Tuesday that he had undergone surgery for a ruptured achilles after suffering his latest injury setback while practicing at home ahead of a potential return to competitive action at Augusta National.
To this point, Woods had only appeared in the TGL, a competition he co-founded with McIlroy, but the 49-year-old looks set to be ruled out for another twelve months.
“Yeah. It sucks,” McIlroy said. “He doesn’t have much luck when it comes to injuries and his body.
“Obviously, he was trying to ramp up to get ready for Augusta, and Achilles surgeries obviously aren’t fun. Hoping he’s in good spirits and hoping he’s doing okay.
“We obviously won’t see him play golf this year, and hopefully we see him maybe play in 2026.
“Well, he said he’d only touched a club three times or something, so I wouldn’t say he’d have been necessarily close,” McIlroy said of Woods’ preparedness for the Masters and his frequent TGL appearances.
“But he was obviously trying to get closer by ramping up and training and practising and doing whatever he was doing.
“Yeah, I’d say he was trying to catch up on some lost time there.”
Woods will be turning 50 at the end of the year meaning he will be eligible to compete on the Champions Tour alongside Pádraig Harrington.
Whether his body would allow him to compete is another thing, but McIlroy vowed he would like to retire with “a little bit left in the tank” and cannot see himself teeing it up on the senior circuit when he hits the big 50.
“Absolutely not,”’ McIlroy said. “I will not play Champions Tour golf.
“Look, I’ve said a lot of absolutes in my time that I’ve walked back, but I do not envision playing Champions Tour golf.
“Something has went terribly wrong if I have to compete at golf at 50.
“I think when I’ve achieved everything I want to achieve in the game, and I get to the point where I don’t think I can maybe do that anymore.
“I’d also like to walk away with a little bit left in the tank. I don’t want to be out there embarrassing myself. I’d like to walk away maybe a little before I should. Put it that way.
“There’s always one more, but that’s okay. I think if you can come to terms with that and walk away on your own terms, then that’s a good thing.”
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