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Sick of hearing fans yelling out at golf tournaments? Yep, so is Rory McIlroy.

The four-time major winner said he needed ‘a couple of Advil’ after completing the second round of the Genesis Open, and added that he sympathised with playing partner Tiger Woods who has had to deal with noisy distractions throughout his career.

“I’ve got a headache after all that,” admitted McIlroy. “I swear, playing in front of all that, he gives up half a shot a day on the field. It’s two shots a tournament he has to give to the field because of all that that goes on around. So, whether that calms down the more he plays and it doesn’t become such a novelty that he’s back out playing again because it’s — it’s tiring.”

Woods, who missed the cut, echoed McIlroy’s comments, adding that distractions outside the ropes had “cost me a few tournaments here and there.”

Read more – Fan ejected after yelling at Tiger Woods

“All it takes is one shot on a Thursday that you lose a tournament by a shot on Sunday,” said Woods. “What people don’t realise is it’s not just something that happens on Sunday afternoon. This is cumulative and it’s par for the course. I’ve dealt with it for a very long time.”

That, insists McIlroy, is unfair and puts Tiger at a disadvantage.

“It’s just the whole thing,” he added. “‘Guys, you’ve got a six-foot putt, ‘It doesn’t break as much as you think,’ just stuff like this that they don’t have to say. Just stuff.

“You know, whoever is teeing off at 8:30 in the morning doesn’t get that and can just go about his business and just do his thing.

“So, that’s tough and Tiger has had to deal with that every single time he goes out to play.”


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Michael McEwan is the Deputy Editor of bunkered and has been part of the team since 2004. In that time, he has interviewed almost every major figure within the sport, from Jack Nicklaus, to Rory McIlroy, to Donald Trump. The host of the multi award-winning bunkered Podcast and a member of Balfron Golfing Society, Michael is the author of three books and is the 2023 PPA Scotland 'Writer of the Year' and 'Columnist of the Year'. Dislikes white belts, yellow balls and iron headcovers. Likes being drawn out of the media ballot to play Augusta National.

Deputy Editor

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