“Unbelievably flattering” - Rory McIlroy reacts to Tiger Woods’ ‘copy Rory’ advice to son Charlie
World No. 1 Rory McIlroy was flattered by Tiger Woods' statement that he asked his son to copy McIlroy's swing instead of his style.
In an interview with TNT's Ernie Johnson, Rory was asked about his reaction to Wood's statement. To which he replied that it was "unbelievably flattering" that arguably the greatest golfer in the world was advising his son to swing like the Irish star.
"My dad taught me how to play, and that was to hold your finish,and that is what tiger told him is to hold your finish until the ball comes to rest, and that is a huge thought for me throughout my career is to balance in the golf swing.
“Yeah, I mean I think it’s unbelievably flattering that in my opinion, the best player ever is telling his son to swing like me. So it is pretty cool that tiger has picked up on that, and sort of tried to instill that in Charlie."
During the Hero World Challenge, Tiger was asked about the advice he gave his son Charlie in-game, and he was of the opinion that Charlie shouldn't copy his style of swing. He insisted that his son should rather take inspiration from Rory McIlroy's swing.
“Have you ever seen Rory off balance on a shot? No. Not ever. You can swing as hard as you want, but you need to have balance,” said Tiger Woods in a press conference.
Rory was full of praise for Charlie and said that he was very excited to follow his progress.
"Charlie is a great kid first and foremost, but he is great young player, and i think that we are all excited to follow his progress and see how far he can go."
"Tiger and I can get the upset" McIlroy
McIlroy will feature in Capital One's The Match, where he will be partnering alongside Tiger Woods. Their opponents are Presidents Cup US team members and old friends Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth.
McIlroy was asked about him considering Woods and himself underdogs to Thomas and Spieth, despite him being the best player in the world and Woods having 15 majors, the World No. 1 had a reason for it.
The 33-year-old felt that Tiger was off competitive golf for quite a while and he himself was not used to playing in December.
"You know, Tiger hasn't had a lot of competitive golf recently, and so i can see that, but I certainly wouldn't be one to bet against tiger, and we all know that from experience over the years. You know, my last competitive start was a few weeks ago, and I said to you off the air that I am not much of a golfer in December, and I have to practice to get ready." McIlroy explained.
McIlroy also believes that Thomas and Spieth had a good experience as a team, and that they had a good run in the Presidents Cup where they won all their matches together.
"Obviously J.T. and Jordan had a great run at the Presidents Cup a couple of months ago there and they went unbeaten, so yeah. Look, they are a good team. They have a lot of experience together, but, you know, I'm pretty confident that tiger and I can get the upset.", the world No. 1 was in full praise of his opponents in the Match.
The Match is scheduled for December 10 and will be live on TNT at 6 pm ( ET).