Rory McIlroy says he gave Tiger Woods COVID before The Open

There was at least one thing that he regretted.

I'm like, 'F---ing hell, I've just given Tiger confession!'

In an interview with the Sunday Independent, the golfer talked about the circumstances that led to him and Tiger Woods getting carbon-19.

While playing in Ireland at the JP McManus Pro-Am, the golfer said he felt unwell.

Nine of the top 10 players in the world at the time, as well as Woods, were in the field.

On Wednesday Tiger needed a rest. The plan was for us to play Ballybunion on Thursday after playing two days of golf at Adare. I woke up feeling unwell but didn't think much of it. Sean O'Flaherty and Rob McNamara went down with JP and his helicopter. I'm sore and tired as I'm getting up from the table after we flew back to Adare. I told my wife that I was feeling strange. I'm going upstairs to take a break. After sleeping for a couple of hours, the sweat was pouring off me and my temperature was high. Tiger said he was not feeling so good. He said, "Oh, I feel okay." He told me at 10 o'clock that night that he had just given Tiger confession. This is terrible. Going into the Open, we both had evidence.

In the interview, he didn't say that he tested positive, but he did say that he went the entire week at The Open without being able to eat.

I went to the dinner on Tuesday and it was wonderful. I was drinking water and they poured a glass of wine, a nice 2005 Bordeaux, but I couldn't taste it. The whole week of The Open I didn't have a thing to drink or eat. It's everything. It was weird.

Even though he wasn't 100%, Woods missed the cut at The Open.

The FedEx Cup was won by McIlroy for the third time, and he got back to the top of the rankings. He was the most frequent supporter of the challenge from Saudi-funded LIV Golf.

The Player Impact Program is designed to reward members who generate the most positive interest in the tour. He was scheduled to play again this weekend at the 20-man Hero World Challenge, which benefits Woods' foundation, but said Monday that he won't be able to.

The Match is a made-for-TV event where the teams of Woods and McIlroy will play against each other.

This report was made using information from The Associated Press.