Sir Nick Faldo crossed paths with Rory McIlroy at Royal Birkdale two weeks ago as the Northern Irishman made a pre-Open Championship scouting mission to the Southport links.
McIlroy has been preparing for major championships in a completely different fashion this year.
The 37-year-old has been playing numerous practice rounds at the major venues well ahead of time.
Rory McIlroy won The Masters in April having played at Augusta National various times in the build-up to the first major championship of the year.
He has taken the same approach at Aronimink and Shinnecock Hills, and he has already paid a visit to Royal Birkdale ahead of the Open Championship.
And Sir Nick Faldo was filming some content for his social media accounts at the same time that McIlroy was at Birkdale.
What Rory McIlroy said about Nick Faldo after Royal Birkdale trip
McIlroy suggested that his Birkdale scouting mission was supposed to be a secret one before Faldo let the cat out of the bag
“Birkdale was definitely just a scouting trip for The Open for sure,“ he said.
“I would have liked to not have it known that I was there, but Faldo couldn’t put his phone away, so — (laughing.)
“I love Nick. In fairness, he’s great. I had a good time with him. He walked a few holes with me.“
It is worth noting that McIlroy made the comments in a very light-hearted manner.
However, Faldo couldn’t resist a swipe back at the Northern Irishman, albeit in a jovial way.
Nick Faldo responds to Rory McIlroy’s comments about Royal Birkdale trip
Faldo spoke exclusively to Today’s Golfer and responded when asked what he made of McIlroy’s comments about him letting the cat out of the bag, so to speak.
“He should have just said to me, ‘Oi, I’m here secretly. Can you put this out later?’ Of course I would have done that,” the Englishman said.
“But he didn’t, so that’s why I put it out – because everybody wants to know everything. I mean there’s no way he can have a secret visit anywhere.
“A member will see him and go, ‘I say, I just saw… was that Rory McIlroy?!’”
Nick Faldo makes a great point there! Rory McIlroy cannot go anywhere in public without it being widespread news within hours.
The Northern Irishman will be fully aware of that as well. His pre-Open scouting mission would have been widely reported on regardless of whether Faldo uploaded the footage to his social media channels or not.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
