RORY MCILROY BELIEVES Tiger Woods may have missed the cut at the Genesis Open partly due to the added strain of having to persist with extra attention from fans at the course.
Woods failed to make the weekend at the Riviera Country Club after shooting a 76 during Friday’s second round, leaving him on six over through two rounds.
The 42-year-old was competing in just his second PGA Tour event in a year after undergoing back surgery.
McIlroy played alongside Woods at the Riviera Country Club and heads into the weekend at two under, five shots off the lead, but seemed glad to be leaving his idol behind, due to the added scrutiny on both of them.
“It might always have been like this, like the whole Tiger mania and these dudes, but I swear, playing in front of all that, he gives up half a shot a day on the field,” McIlroy said.
“It’s two shots a tournament he has to give because of all that that goes on around. So, whether that calms down the more he plays and it doesn’t become such a novelty that he’s back out playing again, I don’t know…
“But it’s tiring. I need a couple Advil. I’ve got a headache after all that.”
McIlroy continued: “You’ve got a six-foot putt and they’ll shout, ‘It doesn’t break as much as you think’, just stuff like that – stuff they don’t have to say.
“Whoever is teeing off at 8:30 in the morning doesn’t get that and can just go about his business and do his thing. That’s tough. Tiger has to deal with that every single time he goes out to play.”
Woods admitted that the extra attention has likely hampered him throughout his career.
He said: “It’s cost me a lot of shots over the years. And it’s been a lot because all it takes is one shot on a Thursday and you lose the tournament by a shot on Sunday.
“What people don’t realise, it’s not just something that happens on Sunday afternoon – this is cumulative and it’s par for the course. But I’ve dealt with it for a very long time.”
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