Rory McIlroy has admitted that it is “unbelievably flattering” that Tiger Woods has told his son Charlie to copy the Northern Irishman’s swing as opposed to his own.
Despite withdrawing from his own Hero World Challenge event last week due to suffering from plantar fasciitis, Woods took to the television booth to explain that Charlie should be striving to copy McIlroy’s swing: “Don’t copy my swing. Copy Rory’s,” said Woods. “Have you ever seen Rory off balance on a shot? No. Not ever.”
Tiger tells his son, Charlie, to swing like Rory McIlroy 👀🏌️♂️ pic.twitter.com/e0IIro4mU3December 7, 2022
This is high praise indeed, and McIlroy was certainly thrilled to hear this while speaking during an Inside the NBA interview, saying: “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.
“My dad taught me how to play the game growing up and his thing to me was always hold your finish, and I think that’s what Tiger’s dad told him back in the day was try and hold your finish until your ball at least lands or comes to rest.
“Tiger's picked up on that and tried to instil that on Charlie. Charlie is a great kid first and foremost but he’s a great young player and I think we are all excited to sort of follow his progress and see how far he can go.”
This is the ultimate compliment from Tiger to Rory and his swing has certainly worked wonders during 2022. The 33-year-old won the Canadian Open, the Tour Championship and the CJ Cup in a year where he claimed both the FedEx Cup and Race to Dubai titles.
His Major drought continued, however, following a disappointing final round at the 150th Open Championship that left the door ajar for Cameron Smith to post a stunning 64 and claim the Claret Jug. Heading into 2023, McIlroy's aim will surely be to add Major number five to his resume.
If he takes his recent form into the beginning of next year, he'll fancy his chances of finally winning at Augusta National, and Tiger’s appraisal of his swing will no doubt be a massive confidence boost.
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