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Northern Trust: Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods struggle Saturday

By Tim Letcher

NORTON, MASSACHUSETTS - AUGUST 22: (L-R) Tiger Woods of the United States and Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland walk off the first tee during the third round of The Northern Trust at TPC Boston on August 22, 2020 in Norton, Massachusetts. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
NORTON, MASSACHUSETTS - AUGUST 22: (L-R) Tiger Woods of the United States and Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland walk off the first tee during the third round of The Northern Trust at TPC Boston on August 22, 2020 in Norton, Massachusetts. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /
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Having Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy in the same pairing at the Northern Trust could have been a dream scenario. Instead, it was a nightmare.

Paired together at the Northern Trust on Saturday, many hoped that Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods could feed off each other, shoot low rounds and, maybe even find themselves in contention with 18 holes to play in the first FedEx Cup playoff event of the season. Instead, something totally opposite of that happened.

Both McIlroy and Woods struggled, with each suffering through tough times during the day. It started off innocently enough, as McIlroy birdied the first hole, while Tiger parred. Woods would bounce back on the second hole with a birdie of his own while McIlroy was struggling, hitting a ball in the water and ultimately making a triple bogey eight.

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Woods then bogeyed the third hole while McIlroy birdied the same hole. The fourth hole was the first time that both players made a simple, boring par.

On the fifth hole, McIlroy had another par, while Tiger suffered a bogey. But on the sixth hole, while Tiger had another par, McIlroy made another big number. This time, he got into the native area and had trouble getting out. It led to a triple bogey seven, leaving McIlroy at four over par despite two birdies.

Woods would make pars until the ninth, where he birdied to shoot an even par 36 on the front side. McIlroy parred the final three holes on the front side to shoot a 4-over par 40.

McIlroy started his back nine with a birdie on the 10th hole, while Woods has a par. But Tiger bogeyed the next two holes to fall to 2-over on his round. Both players bogeyed the par-4 14th hole, leaving Woods at 3-over and McIlroy at 4-over.

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From there, it was pars for both players until the 18th hole, when the two players finally did what they had hoped to do all day – feed off each other. Both Woods and McIlroy birdied the final hole, making the day a little better for both.

Still, with Woods shooting a 2-over par 73 and McIlroy a 3-over par 74, it was not the day that either of them expected to have. And for golf fans, it was a lost opportunity to see if two great champions could have fed off of one another and produced a memorable round of golf.

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