Rory McIlroy on Tiger Woods bond, Patrick Cantlay row and Roy Keane snub

​McIlroy spoke on a range of subjects when he appeared on Sky Bet’s Stick to Football podcast, hosted by former Premier League stars Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher, Roy Keane, and Ian Wright.

A Manchester United fan, McIlroy also recalled his autograph snub from Roy Keane and revealed his regret over the car-park incident with Patrick Cantlay and his caddie at the Ryder Cup.

The County Down man also said he was ‘too judgmental’ in his criticisms of those who joined the breakaway LIV Golf Tour (See News).

Here, we take a look at some of the highlights from McIlroy’s wide-ranging interview.

I’m lucky to have such a great relationship with Tiger Woods

“Tiger Woods was my hero growing up in golf, and we forged a good relationship. Sometimes, people say you don’t want to meet your heroes, but he’s been really good to me over the years and really good with my family – he’s been great with all of us.

“I feel like sometimes he sees me as a little brother in a way, and he can relate to me, and he is trying to help me out.

“I’ve been over to his house a couple of times, and he’ll show me shots, and I feel like I’m really lucky that I’ve been able to learn those things from him and the fact he’s so open with me and wants to share – I don’t feel like he’s like that with everyone.”

I shook hands with Patrick Cantlay after the incident at the Ryder Cup

“[On the Patrick Cantlay situation] It happened [the incident between them] on the 18th green and then we shook hands after – everything was okay.

“I got back into the team room and Shane Lowry was giving us an incredible, motivational talk and as he’s speaking, I’m getting angrier and angrier about what happened and that riled me up to what occurred in the car park afterwards.

“As a competitor and a golfer, I have nothing but respect for Patrick Cantlay – he’s an amazing player.

"I lost it [my emotions], calling people names and things happened that I regret, I used some language in front of people that should never hear that and I’m sitting in the car afterwards going, ‘I probably shouldn’t have done that.’

“But we shook hands and made up and had a beer together on the Sunday night – everything was fine.”

Roy Keane said no to me asking for an autograph

“I was down at the Parmer Links hotel and the Republic of Ireland team were staying there too. I saw one of my Manchester United heroes, Roy Keane, in the lobby, and I must’ve been around 12 years old, so I went over to him asking for an autograph – he looked up at me and said, “not today kid”, but it was okay as it didn’t make an impression on me.

“I have said no to fans before who have asked for autographs. I think we’ve all been in positions where we’ve been busy or we’ve had to take a phone call, when you’ve had to say no to someone.

“It’s hard to say no, and you try your best to give everyone time, especially younger people and kids.

“You’d like fans to ask nicely when they want autographs or pictures. There is a time and a place, whether you’re with your family or having dinner, but there is a time and place for people to approach you.

“I think someone in a position that is well-known, it can get frustrating at times, but someone reminded me that you can literally make someone’s day when you give them a picture or an autograph, which is a nice position.”

I would regret not winning The Masters

“I would be comfortable with not [winning The Masters], but I would look back with a hinge of regret.

“I’d still look back at my career and be happy with what I’ve done because I never expected to get as far as I have.

"You get to go back to that Champions dinner every Tuesday night at Augusta if you win [The Masters], and there are little things like that I’d miss if I wasn’t to do it.

“[On his preparation for The Masters] I’m going to play quite a bit. I feel like the schedule on tour is a bit stop, start going into The Masters.

"I went through stats review with my team last week and I’ve got this trend over the last few years where in May, June, July, and August that’s my best stretch of golf.

“So, if we can just get that into April when The Masters starts, we’ll be good. Playing a bit more and being sharper will help, so I’m going to try and play a few more tournaments in the build-up to Augusta.”

Toxic culture at Manchester United won’t be broken until the Glazers go

“I think it’s sad what’s happened at Manchester United with the owners as it’s got to the point where you’ve got the Glazers who can’t even go to their own club and watch games, because the fans are just so disillusioned with what’s going on.

“I grew up watching Manchester United in the 1990s and early 2000s, and even this David Beckham documentary a few weeks ago, it just reminds you of how good football was, and the good times.

“What we’ve been going through basically since Sir Alex Ferguson left – for my generation of Man United fans, we’re just not used to it.

"I just think the club has this sort of toxic culture that I don’t think will be able to be broken until the owners go.

“It’s maybe not as hard a thing to say for some people, but it’s sad that people have come in, owned a football club and they’ve spent quite a bit of money – they’ve taken a lot of money out too.”