“It’s kind of hard to trash talk them” – Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth laud Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy ahead of The Match 2022
Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy are all set to take on Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth this Saturday at The Match 2022.
Ahead of the championship, the four golfers had a Zoom meeting where they talked about the competition. The pre-tournament conference was arranged on Wednesday and it was more a session of mutual admiration.
Spieth and Thomas have been excited to share the course with the 15-time major champion, Tiger Woods, and current World No. 1 Rory McIlroy.
At the conference, Spieth said:
"If you told myself and JT in 2012, when we were in college, that we'd be playing against these two in a match, that would be a cool thing. We want to win it because of how much these guys inspire us."
As the conversation progressed, the four were asked to name the best trash talker of the bunch. But before anyone could answer that, McIlroy jumped in and said:
"I know who thinks he is the best trash talker, JT."
In response, Thomas said:
"It's kind of hard to trash talk them. I feel like on the first tee, Jordan and I just need to get it out in the open like that.
He went on to say:
You guys have more majors than us, you have more FedEx Cups than us, you both have an airplane, and we don't, let's just go out to the open, so we don't get it used against us in our match."
Spieth added:
"They're both quick and witty. I was saying to Justin that we might have to take the nice guy route, which isn't normal for us in these types of matches."
Tiger Woods is confident about playing at The Match 2022
Woods has struggled with his injury over the last year. In February 2021, he was involved in a devastating accident that injured his leg and was forced to keep himself away from golf.
He played at St. Andrews in July and was again forced to risk his career as it became difficult for him to stand for long.
He was planning to return to the Hero World Challenge but could not play at the tournament because of the injury.
Tiger Woods announced on her Twitter account that he developed plantar fasciitis, and on the advice of the experts, he decided to withdraw his name from the championship. However, Woods expressed confidence that, despite suffering from pain, he will compete at The Match on December 10.
In his interview on Wednesday, Woods said:
"It will help a lot. I can hit golf balls, it's just hard getting from Point A to Point B."
It is important to note that Justin and Jordan have been partners in several matches and dominated Team USA in the Ryder and Presidents Cups. Meanwhile, McIlroy is excited to team up with Tiger Woods for the first time. Rory said:
"I couldn't ask for a better partner. The partner I had against them previously doesn't quite compare to the one I'll have on Saturday night."
Tiger Woods ended the meeting on a good note after buttering up his teammate. He said:
"He's (Rory) going to have the best cheerleader he's ever had."