Golf:Whether it was down to the ongoing dilution of 'Brand Tiger' or simply a measure of his own standing in the greater scheme of things, Rory McIlroy didn't need to be asked twice to grace the cover of the latest Tiger Woods video game.
For the first time ever, and after 10 previous versions, the hugely popular EA Sports game will see Woods share the limelight. Who better, then, than a young Holywood star to get second billing.
McIlroy, a household name in Irish golf circles since his early teens, will gain a new level of worldwide exposure when 2011 version of game goes on sale this summer.
Having lost a number of his highly-lucrative endorsement deals already, the addition of McIlroy could be seen as an attempt by EA Sports to deflect attention from Woods’ travails away from the course.
Not that the youngster management team are seeing it that way, with the addition of a Ryder Cup feature necessitating the inclusion of a European player.
“They needed a European player because it’s a Ryder Cup [theme] this time,” McIlroy’s manager Chubby Chandler said, adding that the 20-year-old quite fancies a game of his own in the future.
“It’s a very short-term deal,”’ Chandler said. “Because if he becomes top man, everything changes. But he was very happy.”
While McIlroy puts the finishing touches to his preparations for this week’s WGC CA Championship, Woods, having completed treatment for sex addiciton, has been working with swing coach Hank Haney as rumours of an imminent return intensify.
Seemingly a shell of man with little or no idea of when he would be making his comeback at his public confession just two weeks ago, a rejuvenated Woods was spotted hitting balls at his Isleworth retreat with Haney over the weekend.
The made for television Tavistock Cup, played on the private Isleworth course, or the Bay Hill Invitational have both been inundated with accreditation requests from reporters as they appear the most likely venue for Woods to come out of hiding.
And McIlroy is as keen as anyone to learn where the world number one will break cover.
"It will be exciting the next few weeks, whenever he comes back, I know a lot of people are saying Tavistock or Bay Hill," McIlroy said. "It would be nice to see him back."
Woods has won six times at Bay Hill including last year's event but while such a return might be logical, no-one has any idea whether it is actually going to materialise.
"It's certainly going to be interesting to see not just how he plays but just how he handles the whole situation," McIlroy added.
"I think everyone is excited to see him just get back out on to the golf course and play golf and from the reports I've heard, he seems to be swinging it well and as good as he ever was.”
