• WGC-Cadillac Championship

Tiger urges Rory to keep his eye on the ball

ESPN staff
March 8, 2012
Rory McIlroy wowed the crowd during a tennis exhibition in New York © Getty Images
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Tiger Woods has warned Rory McIlroy to guard against complacency creeping into his game.

McIlroy, who has long been touted as the next Tiger Woods, climbed to the No. 1 ranking in the world with his victory at the Honda Classic.

Having won a major last year, McIlroy is in an exclusive club of being a major winner and world No. 1.

The Ulsterman has always appeared grounded, but he has a celebrity girlfriend in tennis star Caroline Wozniacki and spent a portion of this week in New York at a tennis exhibition.

McIlroy claims he is focused on his own game and working out how to improve and Woods, who is on the way back up following a torrid couple of years, has warned that is the only way forward.

"Well, he's got to continue to get better, because everyone else is," Woods said. "Everyone else is out here working hard to become a better golfer, and more consistent player. And he didn't get here by not practising. So continue to do what he's doing and I'm sure he's done a lot of different things. He's working on his game. He's working on his fitness and all that is compiled in a pretty good record."

Reflecting on how McIlroy got the job done last week, Woods said: "He has fantastic talent, and he made a few mistakes [in the final round] but he recovered every time.

"And you're not going to play perfectly all the time, people don't realise that. You're going to make mistakes, which he did, and that's fine. He recovered. He did all of the things that you needed to do."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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