McIlroy adamant Woods still the ‘alpha’ in golf

Tiger Woods Photo by EZRA SHAW / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP

Tiger Woods was flown in to this week’s BMW Championship in Delaware, for what could be described as ‘crisis’ talks with some of the top PGA Tour players, including Rory McIlroy.

The meeting was first reported by The Fire Pit Collective, and it came after the news that world no. 2 and Open Champion Cameron Smith will be joining the LIV Golf Tour following the conclusion of the Tour Championship next week.

However, Smith will not be competing this week due to an ongoing hip problem.

McIlroy appeared pleased with the talks when asked about them at a press conference in the run up the tournament, which begins today. He also spoke of the massive presence Tiger Woods still possesses, even among a room full of the world’s top golfers.

I think the one thing that came out of it,” said McIlroy. “Which I think was the purpose, is all the top players on this Tour are in agreement and alignment of where we should go going forward, and that was awesome.

“We need to get the top guys together more often than we do.”

“It’s impactful and I think it shows how much he cares about the Tour,” continued McIlroy, when asked about the presence of Tiger Woods at the meeting.

“I think it shows how much he cares about the players that are coming through and are going to be the next generation.

“Like it or not, they can’t really sell Tiger Woods anymore. The Tour had an easy job for 20 years. They don’t have Tiger – yes, they’ve got a bunch of us and we’re all great players, but we’re not Tiger Woods. We’re moving into a different era, and we just have to think about things a little differently.

“He is the hero that we’ve all looked up to. His voice carries further than anyone else’s in the