Tiger Woods says even champions miss putts. Rory McIlroy gets the message at British Open

TROON, Scotland (AP) — Rory McIlroy insists he wasn’t ghosting Tiger Woods.

Woods was one of the big-name stars who texted McIlroy after the Northern Irishman’s late collapse at the U.S. Open last month.

“Full disclosure, I changed my number two days after the U.S. Open, so I didn’t get it until he told me about it today,” McIlroy said Tuesday ahead of the British Open at Royal Troon. “I was like, ‘Oh, thanks very much.’ So I blanked Tiger Woods, which is probably not a good thing.”

Michael Jordan and Rafael Nadal had also sent supportive messages after McIlroy missed two short putts — at No. 16 and No. 18 — at Pinehurst No. 2 to set up Bryson DeChambeau’s victory.

Jordan and Nadal hit send right away — Woods waited a week. By that time, McIlroy was in full cleanse mode, visiting New York City to be anonymous for a bit and changing his mobile phone number to avoid pesky journalists inquiring about his decade-long drought in majors.

“From the time I left Pinehurst to the time I walked through my front door on Sunday night,” he said, “I probably got about 10 or 15 text messages from media members, and I was like, ‘It’s probably time to get a new number.’ Create a bit of space.”

The 35-year-old McIlroy got reacquainted with links conditions last weekend at the Scottish Open with one eye on the Ayrshire coast. Troon last hosted the Open in 2016.

McIlroy had hightailed it out of Pinehurst without congratulating DeChambeau in person, but they chatted Monday.

“He said congrats,” DeChambeau said Tuesday. “So everything’s great there. He’s a fierce competitor. I know he’s going to give the fans, give everybody as much as he can this week. I’m going to be doing the same. We’re going to be competing. Hopefully it will be another good battle.”

McIlroy, a four-time major champion, won the claret jug at Royal Liverpool in 2014 and then the PGA Championship at Valhalla a month later. But no majors since then.

McIlroy played a practice round Tuesday morning with Northern Irish compatriots Darren Clarke — the 2011 Open champion at Royal St. George’s — and 21-year-old Tom McKibbin.

Last time at Troon was a frustrating Open for McIlroy. Like in 2016, he’s expecting plenty of crosswinds. The greens are slow but “I don’t like to tinker too much with the putter,” he said.

Walking with Luke Donald on Tuesday morning, McIlroy picked the brain of Europe’s Ryder Cup captain on putting here.

“He always said he liked to focus on the tempo of his stroke and really, if anything, make it a little shorter and a little brisker on greens like this,” McIlroy said. “So that’s something that — you know, the strike and maybe just think a little bit more about the tempo of the stroke, two good things this week.”

Even though McIlroy never saw the text, Woods’ message resonated Tuesday.

“I’ve missed plenty of putts. I’ve missed plenty of shots. Just like Jordan ... You see all the game-winning shots, but also he’s missed a ton of game-winning shots too,” Woods said. “The thing is you still take the game-winning shot, and I still want the last putt.”

McIlroy tees off Thursday with Ryder Cup teammate Tyrrell Hatton and Max Homa — who was a Ryder Cup bright spot for the Americans — at 10:09 a.m. local time (0909 GMT). Defending champion Brian Harman is in the group just ahead of them.

After feeling like “one of the herd” in New York, McIlroy knows his game is still at an elite level. In the five-year stretch from 2015 to 2020, he said he was never that close to winning another major.

“So I’d much rather have these close calls. It means that I’m getting closer.”

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