Rory McIlroy was caught up in one of the vital iconic Tiger Woods moments of all time.
And he could only muster up two words in response: ‘Holy s***’.
With the Tour Championship upon us, there will likely be countless replays of Woods’ comeback victory in 2018.
It is taken into account one of the vital enduring scenes in sport history – as an all-time icon walked amongst hundreds of fans to drag off something no one thought was possible.
The golf legend had not won on the PGA Tour for five years as a result of quite a few injuries that doctors thought would end his profession.
His stunning triumph at East Lake in 2018 was treated like a second coming – and preceded his remarkable Masters victory in 2019.
An interesting sub-plot to Woods’ Tour Championship victory was the presence of McIlroy.
The Northern Irishman, who grew up idolising Woods, was paired with the good man heading into the ultimate round.
At three shots back, McIlroy found himself in a horrible position, knowing victory would smash a story that every one golf fans were rooting for.
Luckily for the history books, Woods never faltered, and after successfully finding a greenside bunker along with his second shot on the par-five 18th, it was game over.
As McIlroy and Woods, the sport’s two most famous players, strolled up the green, fans broke contain.
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1000’s of them flooded the 18th fairway to be a part of the historic moment.
McIlroy and Woods, who’ve grown close through the years, might be seen aiming just a few nervous smiles towards one another as security tried to maintain fans at bay.
In the long run, McIlroy ran ahead and vacated the scene, leaving Woods to look as if he was marching a military into battle.
It created a panoramic scene which quickly went viral on social media – and McIlroy was almost left speechless.
He congratulated Woods during an emotional embrace on the 18th green, and as he walked towards the scoring tent, he turned to a TV camera and said: “Holy s***”.
Meanwhile, Woods said: “I used to be having a tough time not crying on that last hole.
“I simply can’t imagine I’ve pulled this off.”
The 15-time major winner and 81-time PGA Tour winner had dropped to 1,199 on the earth rankings lower than a yr before the victory, having undergone spinal fusion surgery.
He added: “It has been tough. I’ve had a not-so-easy last couple of years.
“I’ve worked my way back. I could not have done it without the assistance of all of the people around me.
“A number of the other players knew what I used to be fighting. It was really special to see them on the green on 18.
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“It’s just hard to imagine I won the Tour Championship.”
Woods’ progress could be dented by a near-fatal automobile accident in 2021 and the 48-year-old won’t be competing at this yr’s Tour Championship.
As of late, his only competitive outings are available the majors and a small handful of PGA Tour events.
Despite ongoing struggles with injuries and questions over his continuing efforts to compete, Woods still believes he can win at the very best level.
Talking to talkSPORT.com at The Open in July, he said: “I’ll play so long as I can play and I feel like I can win the event.”
When pressed on whether that belief has wavered amid plenty of poor finishes in recent times, he simply replied: “No.”
