Rory McIlroy: I want to face Tiger Woods down the stretch at a major

Rory McIlroy has not given up hope of achieving a lifelong ambition of going head-to-head with Tiger Woods in the closing stages of a major championship.

Woods won the last of his 14 majors in 2008, the year after McIlroy turned professional, but has been plagued by injuries and off-course problems since revelations about his personal life the following year.

The 40-year-old has not been a factor in any of McIlroy’s four major victories to date, missing the 2011 US Open through injury, finishing 69th in the 2014 Open and missing the cut in the US PGA a month later. Woods did finish 11th in the 2012 US PGA, albeit a distant 11 shots adrift of McIlroy.