Rory McIlory, Tiger Woods Had Covid During British Open Week

Rory McIlroy said in an interview that he caught COVID-19 just before the Open Championship, and he spread it to Tiger Woods.

McIlroy revealed an interesting—and slightly alarming—detail about his week at the Open Championship during a recent sit-down interview with the Sunday Independent’s Paul Kimmage. Apparently, the four-time major champion gave Tiger Woods Covid-19 ahead of the 150th anniversary of the Open at St. Andrews.

McIlroy said he started to feel symptoms at the JP McManus Pro-Am, where according to Kimmage, “everyone had COVID.” The 36-hole event featured nine of the top 10 players in the world, and took place from July 4-5, just days before Woods was first spotted playing in a practice round at the Old Course on July 9.

“Tiger needed a rest on Wednesday. We had played two days of golf at Adare, and the plan was to play Ballybunion on Thursday,” said McIlroy in the interview. “I woke up that morning feeling a bit achy but didn’t really think anything of it. JP gave us his chopper, and we went down with Seán and Tiger’s manager, Rob [McNamara]. We got around fine, flew back to Adare for lunch and as I’m getting up from the table, I’m sore and stiff and super tired. I said to Erica, ‘I’m feeling a bit weird. I’m just going upstairs to lie down for a bit.’ I slept for maybe two hours and the sweat was just pouring off me, then Erica took my temperature and it was sky high. I rang Tiger: ‘I’m not feeling so good here.’ And he goes, ‘Oh, I feel okay.’ But he texted me at 10 o’clock that night, chills, fever, and I’m like, ‘F*****g hell, I’ve just given Tiger Covid! This is horrendous!’ So we both had Covid going into the Open.”

Although McIlroy never explicitly states that he tested positive for COVID-19, he noted that he quarantined at the site of the Pro-Am in Limerick, Ireland. He said it took him the full week prior to the championship to feel better.

“On Tuesday night I went to the Champions Dinner and it was lovely. I was sitting there drinking water and they poured a glass of wine, a lovely 2005 Bordeaux, and I was like, ‘Ahh, I’ll just have a little sip,’ but I couldn’t taste it. The whole week of the Open I didn’t have any taste, and everything smelled like vinegar to me. Everything. It was really strange,” McIlroy continued.

Woods and McIlroy appeared at the R&A’s Celebration of Champions exhibition on July 11, along with LPGA player Georgia Hall and golf legend Lee Trevino. Woods went on to struggle out of the gates at St. Andrews, ultimately missing the cut. McIlroy, on the other hand, shared the tournament lead with Viktor Hovland going into Sunday, but now-LIV Golf member Cameron Smith ran away with the title with a final-round 64. 

On Dec. 10, Woods and McIlroy will make another public playing appearance together in "The Match," where they will go head-to-head against Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth on prime-time TV. 

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