Rory McIlroy picks “having a life” over 14 Majors

Rory McIlroy, who just had a lion all up in his grill at Londolozi Private Game Reserve in South Africa (which sounds like just about the best place in the world), had some interesting things to say about another Big Cat in an interview with the Irish Independent.

McIlroy offered the following on his relationship with Tiger Woods:

“I’m drawn to him, yeah. He’s an intriguing character because you could spend two hours in his company and see four different sides to him. When he’s comfortable and he trusts you — and his trust (sensitivity) is way (higher) than mine — he’s great. He’s thoughtful. He’s smart. He reads. He can’t sleep so that’s all he does — he reads stuff and educates himself on everything.”

Big cat = big reader? Interesting. I thought he up all night playing Call of Duty.

Rors also had an interesting take on the insomnia Woods often seems proud of:

“He struggles to sleep, which I think is an effect of overtraining, so I tell him to calm down sometimes. He’d be texting me at four o’clock in the morning: ‘Up lifting. What are you doing?’”

Rory added that his fiancee, Erica Stoll, didn’t appreciate the odd-timed texts. Can you blame her? I think it’s preferable that Tiger texts Rory in the middle of the night – pissing off Erica – than say, the other way around.

McIlroy also added (shockingly?) that he’d rather have some measure of privacy and fewer majors than experience life in the Tiger Woods “fishbowl”:

“I’ve played golf with him and said: ‘What are you doing tonight? Do you want to come and have dinner with us?’ And he can’t. He just can’t. And for me that’s unfathomable. I could not live like that”

Wow. You wouldn’t sacrifice the ability to grab a double steak burrito at Chipotle for 18 majors? Guess not. Rory added, “If someone was to say, ‘you can have 14 majors and 70 wins but have to deal with that, or nine majors and 40 wins and stay somewhat the same as you are’, I’d take the second option all day.”

So this begs the question: can you dominate golf in the Tiger Woods sense of the word and still lead a normal life?

Insanity? Perhaps. But you have to respect McIlroy’s honesty and assume his opinions reflect the majority of players on tour. How many guys are REALLY trying to swim in Tiger’s fishbowl? Cheers for your candor, Rory McIlroy.