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The 2022 Open Championship at St. Andrews was one for the history books. It was the 150th Open Championship and might be the last time the world saw Tiger Woods compete at St. Andrews. The emotion of that could be seen as Tiger Woods was fighting back tears as he walked up the 18th fairway in his final round.
The 2022 British Open leaderboard was STACKED with Jordan Spieth, Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson, and Cameron Smith all in the mix. Rory McIlroy went into the final round tied for the lead but Cam Smith fired off a final round 64 for the win.
In a recent interview, Rory McIlroy revealed some behind-the-scenes drama from St. Andrews. Rory and Tiger had both contracted COVID-19 just days before the 150th Open Championship and Rory McIlroy believes he was the one who infected Tiger. In an interview with Paul Kimmage of the Independent, Rory was able to look back with a sense of humor about it the situation:
“Tiger needed a rest on Wednesday. We had played two days of golf at Adare (Manor) and the plan was to play Ballybunion on Thursday. I woke up that morning feeling a bit achy but didn’t really thing anything of it. JP (McManus) gave us his chopper and we went down with Sean and Tiger’s manager, Rob (McNamara). We got around fine, flew back to Adare for lunch and as I’m getting up from the table, I’m sore and stiff and super tired.”
“I said to Erica, ‘I’m felling a bit weird. I’m just going upstairs to lie down for a bit.’ I slept for maybe two hours and the sweat was just pouring off me, then Erica took my temperature and it was sky high. I rang Tiger: ‘I’m not feeling so good here.’ And he goes, ‘Oh, I feel okay.’ But he texted me at 10 o’clock that night, chills, fever, and I’m like, ‘F—ing hell, I’ve just given Tiger Covid! This is horrendous!’ (laughs) So we both had Covid going into The Open.”
It’s hard to fathom the pressure Rory McIlRoy must’ve been feeling while he was (1) sick and (2) believed he just infected one of the most beloved athletes on plant earth. Evidently, both of them were able to recover quickly after their helicopter ride together which led to sickness all around. Side note: how incredible is it they were just able to borrow someone’s ‘chopper’ for a few hours? Must be nice.
Rory McIlroy last won the Open Championship in 2014. That year it was held at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Merseyside. McIlroy also won the PGA that year at Valhalla.
The last time Tiger Woods won the Open Championship was in 2006 (also won it in 2000 and 2005). Tiger’s 2006 win was ALSO at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Merseyside.
The 2023 Open Championship will have a stacked field and it’s set to be held at, you guessed it, the Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Merseyside…