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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

McIlroy raises eyebrows with comments about Woods

McIlroy
Doug Ferguson Associated Press

DORAL, Fla. – Rory McIlroy has said nothing wrong.

One of the brightest young stars in golf, McIlroy has been making news over the last few weeks for giving his opinion on Tiger Woods, and there really isn’t much good to say about the game of the No. 5 player in the world.

Yet the perception is that McIlroy is taking one too many jabs at Woods, and that he is soon to join the list of players whose criticism comes back to haunt them.

But that assumes it was criticism in the first place.

In an essay under McIlroy’s byline in Sports Illustrated’s “Golf Plus” section, McIlroy said that Woods is not playing as well as he did a couple of years ago, let alone a decade ago when he dominated.

“I’m not sure we are going to see him dominate again the way he did,” McIlroy said in the essay. “He never seemed like he would make a mistake. It’s not that he’s playing badly. He’s simply playing badly by Tiger’s standards. He’s playing like an ordinary golfer. People expect more of him because of what he has achieved.”

Indeed, there are questions as to whether Woods can rule golf the way he did in 2000, when his nine wins included three straight majors. Or the way he did after his father died in 2006, when he won 18 of 33 tournaments worldwide, four of eight majors and had a seven-month stretch without ever losing.

Can anything else be disputed?

The problem is that Woods, through a dozen years of unprecedented dominance, has created a culture of being off limits to other players giving honest answers.

And remember, answers usually are the product of a question.

This only looks bad on two counts. One is that it’s easy to pile on Woods right now, even though he has only himself to blame. The other is that the commentary is coming from a 21-year-old with all of two career victories, who has never faced Woods at his best.

“That’s the answer a 21-year-old would give, isn’t it?” Lee Westwood said last week with a smile. “I think having played with Tiger since 1997 or something like that … there’s an old saying that class is permanent and form is fickle. He’s the classiest player I’ve ever played with and I’d be wise enough to know not to write him off.

“I’ve seen him play poorly and win tournaments,” Westwood said. “He doesn’t necessarily have to get back to where he was.”

And then he whimsically added, “I’ll have a word with Rory later.”

Last year, McIlroy talked about Woods before the Ryder Cup, when the American had yet to be added to the U.S. team as a captain’s pick. In an interview with an Irish newspaper, he said he expected Woods to be in Wales.

“I would love to face him,” McIlroy said. “Unless his game rapidly improves … I think anyone in the European team would fancy their chances against him.”

The interview took place a week after Woods finished next to last at Firestone, where he had won seven times and never finished out of the top 10. Woods had his worst 72-hole score as a professional that week. He didn’t look capable of beating anyone.

A month later, there were rumors swirling around Cog Hill that Woods had told McIlroy, “Be careful what you wish for.” Woods denied that, although he was aware of the comments. And while he mentioned McIlroy in context with Stephen Ames, Woods also gave the kid a break. “At least Rory said, ‘Unless my game improves,’ ” Woods said, a concession to fact.

The reference to Ames came from the 2006 Match Play Championship, when Ames was the No. 64 seed and jokingly said on the practice range about his chances, “Anything can happen – especially where he’s hitting the ball.”

Woods beat him 9 and 8.