Rory McIlroy wrote sinister letter to Tiger Woods 24 years ago

A letter from Rory McIlroy has surfaced from 24 years ago – and it warns golfing icon Tiger Woods to watch his back. According to the New York Times, McIlroy – then only nine-years-old – made his intentions known to reach the pinnacle of the sport by dethroning Woods as the king golf. 

McIlroy’s uncle told the publication that when McIlroy was finding his feet as a young golfer, he wrote his hero Tiger a letter – unclear if it ever made it to him – warning him that he better watch his back.

Brian McIlroy, Rory’s uncle and godfather, paraphrased in an email, put Woods on notice: “I’m coming to get you. This is the beginning. Watch this space.”

McIlroy has seemingly taken over as the top player in the world on the course – but this has a long way to go to match Woods’ glittering career in the sport. The 33-year-old has, however, taken major strides to replace Tiger as the face of the sport off the course.

He has a deal with Nike golf rumoured to be worth £160m ($200m) and, most recently, he took over as the face of EA Sports’ golf video game franchise, which Tiger had been for years.

McIlroy will begin his latest bid to complete the career Grand Slam alongside Tom Kim and Sam Burns for the first two rounds of The Masters at Augusta National.

The Northern Irishman has been handed a late-early draw for his 15th Masters appearance and latest opportunity to end his major drought, with the world No 2 going out at 1.48pm local time (6.48pm BST) on Thursday before tee off at 10.42am (3.42pm BST) on Friday.

McIlroy won three times on the PGA Tour last year and began 2023 with DP World Tour victory at the Dubai Desert Classic, with McIlroy now looking to build on his runner-up finish at Augusta in 2022 and become just the sixth player in history to win all four majors.

Intriguingly, he would become the first player to complete the Grand Slam since Tiger Woods, who is on the opposite side of the draw alongside Viktor Hovland and Xander Schauffele – who finished tied-second in 2019 when Woods won his 15th major title.

Defending champion Scottie Scheffler begins his title defence alongside US Amateur champion Sam Bennett and compatriot Max Homa, while three-time winner Jordan Spieth is out alongside former major runners-up Tommy Fleetwod and Tony Finau.

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