As Tiger Woods begins his recovery from yet another injury, Rory McIlroy has firmly dismissed any notion of his own career stretching into his 50s.
The 49-year-old Woods ruptured an achilles while training at home on Tuesday morning. McIlroy believes Woods will not feature in any of the 2025 majors. “It sucks,” McIlroy said. “He doesn’t have much luck when it comes to injuries and his body. Obviously he was trying to ramp up to get ready for Augusta and achilles surgeries aren’t fun.
‘I am hoping he’s in good spirits and hoping he’s doing OK. We obviously won’t see him play golf this year and hopefully we see him maybe play in 2026.”
Woods’s ongoing desire to participate in golf events contrasts starkly with the outlook of McIlroy. The Northern Irishman, who will turn 36 in May, has a clear idea of his professional longevity.
“I’m very happy to move aside for the younger generation to come through,” he said. “I look at other sports. I turned pro in 2007. I’m 18 years into a career. Not a lot of athletes can say they’ve had an 18-year career and I’m only 35.
“I can acknowledge how lucky golfers are to be able to do what they do for so long compared to other athletes, so whenever I feel like the time is right, I’ll have no problem moving aside and letting the next generation do their thing.”
Pressed on precisely when that may be, McIlroy added: “I think when I’ve achieved everything I want to achieve in the game and I get to the point where I don’t think I can maybe do that any more. I’d also like to walk away with a little bit left in the tank. I don’t want to be out there embarrassing myself. I’d like to walk away maybe a little before I should. Put it that way.
“I will not play Champions Tour golf. I’ve said a lot of absolutes in my time that I’ve walked back but I do not envision playing Champions Tour golf. Something has gone terribly wrong if I have to compete at golf at 50.”
McIlroy re-emphasised his desire for a more global approach to elite golf, as talks – aimed at some form of unification – rumble on between traditional tours and the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund.
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In Singapore on Wednesday, Brooks Koepka did not exactly play down the sense he may seek a return to the PGA Tour from the Saudi-backed LIV circuit. The former Masters champion Fred Couples turned heads last week by asserting Koepka has eyes set on a PGA Tour comeback. A widespread assumption is that Koepka, a five-time major winner, feels undercooked by LIV’s light playing schedule.
“I’ve got a contract obligation out here to fulfil and then we’ll see what happens,” said Koepka. “I don’t know where I’m going, so I don’t know how everybody else does. Right now I’m just focused on how do I play better, how do I play better in the majors, how does this team win, and then we’ll figure out next year and how to play better again. It’s the same thing. It’s just a revolving cycle. I’ve got nothing. Everybody else seems to know more than I do.”
