Tiger Woods named Y.E. Yang as the opponent who dealt him the most unexpected loss ahead of the British Open, the season’s final major golf tournament.
AP and Reuters reported that Woods revealed he comforted Ireland’s Rory McIlroy over his loss at the US Open in June while reminiscing about the 2009 PGA Championship at a press conference held at Scotland’s Royal Troon Golf Club on the eve of the Open.
“I had never been overtaken in a major tournament before then. I was leading at the time. It took quite a while to recover after losing to Yang,” Woods shared.
Woods texted words of encouragement to McIlroy, but McIlroy could not receive the text immediately because he changed his number after the US Open defeat.
“I changed my number to avoid contact with everyone. I only recently learned about Woods’s encouraging message,” McIlroy explained.
McIlroy missed several short putts in the final round of the US Open at Pinehurst Golf and Resort last month, handing the victory to Bryson DeChambeau. The deciding factor of his defeat was recording a bogey after missing a par putt from 1.2 meters (about 4 feet) on the 18th hole (par 4).
“I changed my phone number two days after the US Open ended. I didn’t know I received a thoughtful text until Woods told me today,” McIlroy admitted.
“Woods has been an amazing presence in my life, and he always sent words of encouragement whether times were good or bad,” he said, expressing his gratitude to Woods.
The 2014 British Open Champion Rory McIlroy will tee off at 6:09 PM KST / 10:09 AM BST on July 18 with Max Homa and Tyrell Hatton.
Woods, who won the British Open in 2000, 2005, and 2006, will start the first round of the tournament at 2:37 PM BST on July 18 with Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay.
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