Rory McIlroy. Luke Walker/Getty Images
Rory McIlroy’s final round at June’s U.S. Open was such a disaster that it resulted in him missing a text message from his hero.
After McIlroy, 35, missed short putts on the 16th and 18th holes at the tournament, effectively handing the trophy to eventual winner Bryson DeChambeau, McIlroy received a text from Tiger Woods.
But there was a problem.
“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 told The Guardian in a story published Monday, July 15. “I was like, ‘Oh, thanks very much.’ So I blanked Tiger Woods, which is probably not a good thing.”
McIlroy added, “If he hadn’t have waited that long, I probably would have got it. But I caught up with him earlier. It’s always nice when your hero and the guy that you had on your bedroom wall is reaching out and offering words of encouragement.”
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Before he changed his number, McIlroy said he did receive texts from the likes of Michael Jordan and Rafael Nadal.
“MJ was maybe the first person to text me after I missed the putt on the 18th, but both of them got in touch very, very quickly,” the golfer noted. “They just told me to keep going. MJ reminded me of how many game-winning shots he missed. Really nice.”
McIlroy decided to change his number after getting besieged by media requests after what the No. 2 golfer in the world has called “probably the toughest day I’ve had in my nearly 17 years as a professional golfer.”
Rory McIlroy. Andrew Redington/Getty Images
“From the time I left Pinehurst to the time I walked through my front door on Sunday night, 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,’” McIlroy explained. “Create a bit of space.”
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As for what Woods, 48, said in his unanswered text message to McIlroy, the 15-time major champion provided some insight during his pre-tournament press conference at The Open Championship.
“We’ve all been there as champions. We all lose,” Woods said. “Unfortunately, it just happened, and the raw emotion of it, it’s still there, and it’s going to be there for, I’m sure, some time. The faster he’s able to get back on a horse and get back into contention, like he did last week, the better it is for him.”
McIlroy will get that chance at this week’s 152nd Open Championship, which tees off at Scotland’s Royal Troon on Thursday, July 18.
