Woods plays down rivalry with ‘good friend’ McIlroy

ABU DHABI: This week’s Abu Dhabi Championship is billed as a desert duel between Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods but the American says theirs is a new rivalry and cannot yet compare to past on-course battles he has had.Fourteen-times major winner Woods believes it will take time to develop the same sort of rivalry with world number one McIlroy that he has experienced with the likes of Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh and Ernie Els.“I think I’ve gone head-to-head against Phil, Ernie and Vijay the most over the course of my career,” the former world number one told reporters at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club on Tuesday.“For something like 16 or 17 years we’ve been going at it like that but it takes time. Rory and I haven’t really had the amount of head-to-head duels that I’ve had with Phil, Vijay and Ernie ... so let’s just see how it pans out.”While Woods was keen to play down the competitive nature of his rivalry with McIlroy, the duo have clearly built a strong bond since they were paired together in Abu Dhabi 12 months ago.“Our relationship has grown since then,” added Woods who finished joint third behind surprise British winner Robert Rock in the 2012 Abu Dhabi Championship. “We’ve hit it off and our friendship’s gotten better.”World number two Woods and McIlroy will again play together in the opening round of this year’s tournament, along with triple former Abu Dhabi champion Martin Kaymer, on Thursday.

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Woods plays down rivalry with ‘good friend’ McIlroy