Rory McIlroy suggested in an interview with Jimmy Fallon that Tiger Woods could be headed home soon after spending the past two-plus weeks in the hospital following a serious car accident on Feb. 23.
Woods suffered multiple fractures in his right leg in the accident, requiring several hours of surgery at a Southern California hospital. He was transferred to another hospital a few days later.
Although Woods has been in touch with a few golfers via text message, there have been no official updates from Woods’ representatives since Feb. 28.
“I’ve spoken to him a little bit,” McIlroy said in the “Tonight Show” interview Tuesday. He did the interview from the Players Championship, where he is competing this week.
“He’s doing better,” McIlroy said. “I think all the guys have reached out to him. Hopefully if things go well over the next week or so, he might be able to get home and start recovery at home, which would be great for him. See his kids, see his family.
“But yeah, he’s doing better. And I think all of us are wishing him a speedy recovery at this point.”
Woods was in Southern California for the Genesis Invitational, the tournament he hosts, the weekend of Feb. 19-21. He then stayed on for two days of obligations associated with one of his endorsers. He was on his way to one of those events when he was involved in the early-morning single-vehicle crash on a hilly stretch of road in Rancho Palos Verdes, California.
He was rushed to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and was later transferred to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. McIlroy said he heard from Woods both before and after Sunday’s final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, where a 76 dropped him into a tie for 10th.
“He texted me some words of encouragement before the final round of Bay Hill on Sunday,” McIlroy said. “And things didn’t quite go to plan, and he was the first one to text me and be like, ‘What’s going on here?’ So even from the hospital bed, he’s still giving me some heat.”
McIlroy and Woods do not live far from each other in South Florida, and it was McIlroy who in January disclosed that Woods’ most recent back procedure had occurred on Dec. 23 when the date had not been announced.