(Reuters) – Rory McIlroy has been in touch with Tiger Woods and said that the 15-times major champion is doing better and could soon return home from hospital to begin recovery after sustaining serious leg injuries in a car crash last month.
World number 11 McIlroy delivered the update on Woods while speaking in a video call with “Tonight Show” host Jimmy Fallon that aired late on Tuesday.
“I’ve spoken to him a little bit,” McIlroy said from Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, where he is the defending champion at this week’s Players Championship. “He’s doing better. I think all the guys have reached out to him.
“Hopefully if things go well over the next week or so he might be able to get home and start recovery at home which would be great for him. See his kids, see his family.
“But yeah, he’s doing better and I just think all of us are wishing him a speedy recovery at this point,” added the four-times major champion.
Woods was taken to hospital in Los Angeles two weeks ago after losing control of the vehicle he was driving. The golfing great was negotiating a curved, downhill stretch of highway when his vehicle veered across the opposite lanes, collided with a road sign and rolled several times.
McIlroy said Woods texted him ahead of the final round of last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill in Orlando where he began the day within striking distance of the top of the leaderboard but struggled to a closing four-over-par 76.
“He texted me some words of encouragement before the final round at Bay Hill on Sunday and things didn’t quite go to plan and he was the first one to text me and be like ‘what’s going on here?'” said McIlroy.
“So even from the hospital bed he’s still giving me some heat.”
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Toby Davis)
