Tiger: Rory will be a ‘great champion’

Four-time champion Tiger Woods last night backed Rory McIlroy to become a “great champion” for many years to come as golf’s biggest stars readied themselves for a Masters showdown.

With Woods, 36, and McIlroy, 22, being hailed as the next big rivalry in golf now the American is back in business after two years of strife on and off the course, this week’s opening major of the year is the first real opportunity to see the two protagonists battle it out at something approaching their best form respectively.

And 14-time major winner Woods, back in the world’s top-10 again following his victory at Bay Hill earlier this month said he saw a lot of his younger self at work when he watched the reigning US Open champion play.

“Obviously he can move the ball out there,” Woods said of McIlroy. “I used to move it like that back in yesteryear.

“The way he plays and I think the way he handles himself out there on the golf course, how competitive he is, he’s very feisty. It’s what you have to be out here.

“He has all of the makings of being a great champion for a long period of time. We have seen what he did last year at the Masters and how he came back at the (US) Open. He led, what, seven out of eight rounds in major championships last year, which is pretty impressive, right in a row. So he just needs to get more experienced.’’

Woods, who played with McIlroy for the first time in Abu Dhabi in January, was also impressed by McIlroy’s bounce back from Masters disappointment last year to win the US Open a matter of weeks later.

“It was cool to see someone learn from their mistakes like that and apply it,” Woods said. “You know, he was playing so well, and so be it. He just had one bad round. It happens to everybody, and we have all been in those situations where we’ve had one bad round. He learned from it, applied it, and ran away with it. That was some pretty impressive playing at the Open.”

Woods has also been impressive of late, signalling his return to form after an extensive modfication of swing under the tutelage of Sean Foley with a 62 to press eventual winner McIlroy on the final day of the Honda Classic last month and then winning at Bay Hill in the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

“To go out there with the lead and increase the lead was a good feeling,” he said. “The way I hit the golf ball and putted all day, I felt like I went out there and earned the win. It wasn’t given to me. I had to go out there and shoot a really good number under really tough conditions. That felt really good to do.’’