Rory McIlroy describes his relationship with Tiger Woods: "It exceeded my expectations"

Rory McIlroy has looked upon Tiger Woods as his hero ever since he was a child. When he was just 9 years old, he had written a letter to Woods warning him that he was on his way to become his rival.

Years later, McIlroy stood true to his word and is one of the golf legend's fiercest rivals on the course now. Off the course, McIlroy and Woods share a close friendship that has blossomed into a business partnership. They started TMRW Sports in 2021 and launched their brainchild TGL this year.

The tech-infused golf league had been in the pipeline for years and finally went on the floors in January 2025. Rory McIlroy's team Boston Common Golf had its first match on Monday against Tiger Woods' Jupiter Links Golf Club. However, McIlroy's team ended up losing.

Post his match, the Northern Irish star sat down for an online interview with Adam Stanley. He was asked about his bond with Woods and McIlroy spoke very highly of their equation.

"The way I always describe my relationship with Tiger is that people would say, 'never meet your heroes' and I met my hero and he exceeded my expectations. So he has been nothing but wonderful to me, my family, the whole way through my career." (2:00 onwards)

He added:

"And it's really cool to not just call him a competitor but also a business partner, a colleague, a friend. It's really cool. I am super fortunate that I have the relationship with him that I do."

The story about McIlroy's dream of competing against Tiger Woods and then eventually being able to do so was the theme for Nike's 2015 ad 'Ripple', featuring the two ace golfers. The ad received a lot of appreciation from fans and still remains one of the most iconic golf ads ever.

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What was Rory McIlroy's takeaway from his match against Tiger Woods' Jupiter Links Golf Club?

Jupiter Links Golf Club and Boston Common Golf players shaking hands (Source: Getty)

Rory McIlroy also talked about his first match on the TGL against Tiger Woods' Jupiter Links Golf Club in his interview with Adam Stanley.

The Boston Common Golf player was told by the latter that despite the result not being in his favor, it seemed like everyone was having fun. Stanley further asked McIlroy what his biggest takeaway from the match was, to which he replied (in the aforementioned interview):

"It was a lot of fun. The guys liked there. Obviously myself, Adam and Keegan. Tiger, Tom and Kiz (Kevin Kisner). I think it seemed like we were having a lot of fun and that energy sort of translates through the TV screen and I think when the guys enjoy it like that that sort of resonates with people so...yeah it was an awesome match." (0:10 onwards)

Rory McIlroy's team, Boston Common Golf, has their next match against Los Angeles Golf Club on Tuesday (Feb. 4).