Rory Mcilroy

Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods have apparently struck up a friendship. In an interview with the Irish Times, McIlroy, the ranked No. 1 in the world, told the newspaper that the golf stars have a fun, light-hearted replationship.  “Tiger gives me stick about being short,” McIlroy said . “He always asks me, 'Seriously, how tall are you?' I'll say, '5-foot-9.' 'Yeah, but without the hair? That's 5-7, right?' He'll ask me, 'What do you do when Caroline [Wozniacki, McIlroy's girlfriend]

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Sergio Garcia was only 19 when he first challenged Tiger Woods during the final round of the 1999 PGA Championship. Woods nipped the fist-pumping Spaniard - then affectionately known as El Nino - by a shot for a second major championship. Yet, the stage was set for a classic rivalry. It never happened. Tiger would do his part, but Sergio could not keep up, especially when the two were paired together. Garcia, now 33, will get another chance to stand up to the pressure of a pairing with Woods on Saturday when the two longtime foes face off in the final group at the Players Championship.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Sergio Garcia was only 19 when he first challenged Tiger Woods during the final round of the 1999 PGA Championship. Woods nipped the fist-pumping Spaniard - then affectionately known as El Nino - by a shot for a second major championship. Yet, the stage was set for a classic rivalry. It never happened. Tiger would do his part, but Sergio could not keep up, especially when the two were paired together. Garcia, now 33, will get another chance to stand up to the pressure of a pairing with Woods on Saturday when the two longtime foes face off in the final group at the Players Championship.

Goodbye, David Kahn. Hello, Flip Saunders. Again. The Minnesota Timberwolves announced Thursday that owner Glen Taylor will not pick up the option for next season on Kahn's contract as president of basketball operations. Three people with knowledge of the situation told the Associated Press that Taylor has agreed on a deal to hire Saunders as Kahn's replacement. The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that Saunders will be a part-owner of the team. Saunders coached the Timberwolves from 1995 to 2005, and his reputation in the Twin Cities only grew when the team cratered after his exit.

Rory McIlroy beat the strongest leaderboard in golf this year Sunday in the BMW Championship and joined some elite company. McIlroy made consecutive birdies around the turn to emerge from a four-way tie and seize control at Crooked Stick in Carmel, Ind. He closed with a five-under-par 67, making his only bogey on the final hole when it no longer mattered, for a two-shot victory over Phil Mickelson and Lee Westwood. McIlroy became the first player since Tiger Woods in 2009 to win in consecutive weeks on the PGA Tour, and with his sixth career win, joined Woods and Jack Nicklaus as the only players to win at least six times at age 23. Woods was never seriously in the mix. Five shots behind with seven holes to play, he made three late birdies and shot 68 to tie for fourth with Robert Garrigus (69)

Golfer Rory McIlroy is feeling good coming off of his record-setting eight-stroke victory at the PGA Championship earlier this month. So good, in fact, that he isn't afraid to call out perhaps the greatest golfer of all time: Tiger Woods. At a news conference for The Barclays tournament, which started Thursday at Bethpage Black in New York, McIlroy was asked about next month's Ryder Cup. Just a few minutes before the question, Woods, who was to interviewed next, had entered the room.

Rory McIlroy has freed us all! By crushing the field at the PGA Championship this weekend, McIlroy has dismissed the silly notion that a bad game or a slump by an elite athlete has anything at all to do with his or her romantic involvement with someone beautiful and famous. Going into the PGA, McIlroy was in the midst of a rather shaky season. He had missed the cut at three tournaments, including the U.S. Open, where he was the defending champion. Naturally, many people said his spotty play had everything to do with his relationship with tennis player Caroline Wozniacki.

Rory McIlroy, the top-ranked golfer in the world, walked off the golf course Friday and withdrew from the Honda Classic in South Florida after hitting his second shot into the water on the par-5 18th hole. After the ball landed in the water, McIlroy walked straight to his car and drove off. He told reporters as he walked to the parking lot that he was not in a good place mentally. “There's not really much I can say, guys,” McIlroy said. “I'm not in a good place mentally, you know?

Rory McIlroy's reputation took a big hit last week when he walked off the course and withdrew from the tournament during the second round of the PGA Tour's Honda Classic. McIlroy was seven-over for the round when he hit his second shot into the water on the 18th and abruptly walked away without finishing the hole. On his way to the parking lot, he told reporters that his head was not in the right place. He later issued a statement that his wisdom tooth was causing pain. Many golf fans quickly labeled him as a quitter who folded when things weren't going his way. One key member of the PGA Tour agrees with that assessment: Rory McIlroy.

  So there you are, minding your own business at the British Open. You are 300 yards away from the tee. No need to pay attention, really, because what could possibly happen? Well, if Rory McIlroy is teeing off, plenty. McIlroy sent a tee shot wide on Friday that hit spectator Jason Blue in the head and ended up out of bounds. But it wasn't all a lost cause. After McIlroy found out what he had done, he signed one of his gloves and gave it to Blue, who seems pretty dazed in the above video.

Rory McIlroy, who has muscled into Nike's advertising ranks alongside Tiger Woods, is featured in a new clip that includes juggling and kicking a golf ball. OK, it looks like computer graphic images. Maybe some of the juggling is real, but it's hard to say all the tricks are real. You be the judge by watching the video above. The clip is quite artsy, set in black and white with the only color a red golf ball, which happens to roll up to McIlroy as he's on a random fairway, no explanation involved.

Caroline Wozniacki, the former No. 1 women's tennis player in the world, took part in the Masters par-three tournament on Wednesday when she caddied for boyfriend Rory McIlroy, who happens to be the No. 2 golfer in the world behind Tiger Woods. Although they denied for the longest time that they were a couple, the Wozniacki-McIlroy romance has been very public lately with each putting in appearances at the other's tournaments. On Wednesday during the festive par-three event, Wozniacki donned  white coveralls and hauled McIlroy's golf bag around.

Rory McIlroy is very, very sorry and promises it will never happen again. Can we let him out of time-out now? McIlroy, who has been heavily criticized since walking off the course and quitting while having a bad round during the PGA Tour's Honda Classic last Friday, said the pressure of meeting expectations as golf's No. 1 player got the best of him. "I realized pretty quickly that it wasn't the right thing to do," McIlroy, 23, said Wednesday in...

Caroline Wozniacki knows well the perils of dating a famous athlete. She has been the girlfriend of golfer Rory McIlroy for more than a year and the spotlight of fame isn't always a plus. For example last week, when McIlroy quit in the middle of a golf tournament in Florida, and Wozniacki was upset in the first round of a tennis tournament in Malaysia, it was decided by some that it was romantic heartache that caused the corresponding events. "We've been in the media spotlight so long that I've gotten used to that part of it," Wozniacki said Wednesday.

Rory McIlroy's reputation took a big hit last week when he walked off the course and withdrew from the tournament during the second round of the PGA Tour's Honda Classic. McIlroy was seven-over for the round when he hit his second shot into the water on the 18th and abruptly walked away without finishing the hole. On his way to the parking lot, he told reporters that his head was not in the right place. He later issued a statement that his wisdom tooth was causing pain. Many golf fans quickly labeled him as a quitter who folded when things weren't going his way. One key member of the PGA Tour agrees with that assessment: Rory McIlroy.

Rory McIlroy, the top-ranked golfer in the world, walked off the golf course Friday and withdrew from the Honda Classic in South Florida after hitting his second shot into the water on the par-5 18th hole. After the ball landed in the water, McIlroy walked straight to his car and drove off. He told reporters as he walked to the parking lot that he was not in a good place mentally. “There's not really much I can say, guys,” McIlroy said. “I'm not in a good place mentally, you know?

Rory McIlroy, who has muscled into Nike's advertising ranks alongside Tiger Woods, is featured in a new clip that includes juggling and kicking a golf ball. OK, it looks like computer graphic images. Maybe some of the juggling is real, but it's hard to say all the tricks are real. You be the judge by watching the video above. The clip is quite artsy, set in black and white with the only color a red golf ball, which happens to roll up to McIlroy as he's on a random fairway, no explanation involved.

Rory McIlroy was the last man standing Sunday in the star-studded BMW Championship at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Ind., winning by two strokes over Phil Mickelson and Lee Westwood with a five-under-par 67 in the final round. The 23-year-old from Northern Ireland, a two-time major winner who is ranked No. 1 in the world, earned his fourth victory of the PGA Tour season and became the first golfer since Tiger Woods in 2009 to win back-to-back events. The 23-year-old won the Deutsche Bank Championship last week at TPC Boston.

Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy missed the cut at the Abu Dhabi Championship in the United Arab Emirates on Friday, a woeful start to the season for the world's top two golfers. Woods missed it after he was penalized two shots for wrongly taking a free drop, while top-ranked McIlroy was frustrated trying to adjust to his new Nike clubs, even though he used his old Titleist putter in the second round. Both finished with three-over 75s. "When you don't hit fairways on this golf course, you can't score," McIlroy said.

Caroline Wozniacki, the former No. 1 women's tennis player in the world, has been spotted in Australia wearing a diamond ring on a certain finger that might mean she's engaged to golf superstar Rory McIlroy. The Danish star, currently ranked No. 10, has not made any announcements, though. Neither has the lad from Northern Ireland, who happens to be the No. 1 golfer in the world. Wozniacki arrived recently in Brisbane to begin preparing for the Australian Open, which starts Jan. 14. The high-profile couple have been seen worldwide at a number of each other's events -- including last month in the United Arab Emirates, where McIlroy won the Dubai World Championship -- during their 18-month relationship.