McIlroy stands by Woods comments

38th Ryder Cup
Venue: Celtic Manor, Newport Date: 1-3 October Starts: 0745 BST on Friday Coverage: Live commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live & online, live text commentary online & daily highlights on BBC TWO. Live on Sky Sports 1

McIlroy is making his Ryder Cup debut at Celtic Manor

Ryder Cup debutant Rory McIlroy has refused to retract his comments about Tiger Woods having lost his magic.

World number one Woods has had a turbulent year, with a loss of form and the public break-up of his marriage.

"Before I met him you feel he's superhuman but once you meet him you realise he's a normal guy and works hard on his game," said McIlroy.

"But after what's happened in the last 18 months, I suppose a little bit of that aura is probably gone."

Last month Woods finished 18 over at the WGC Bridgestone Invitational tournament, prompting McIlroy, 21, to say: "I would love to face him. Unless his game rapidly improves... I think anyone in the European team would fancy their chances against him."

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And as the teams got settled in at the Celtic Manor venue in Wales for this weekend's Europe v United States match, Northern Ireland's McIlroy continued to stoke the rivalry.

"Once I met Tiger, even before last year or whatever, you sort of realise that he just is a normal guy," McIlroy added.

"He's probably the best player that's ever lived, and likely the greatest player that's ever played the game.

"But you watch so much golf on TV, and you see so many things and you watch so many highlights... watching Tiger winning the Masters in '97 and winning four majors in a row in 2000/2001, you sort of don't really believe it.

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"You put him on such a high pedestal and then you meet the guy and you realise that he's obviously an unbelievable player, but he's just a normal guy."

When told of McIlroy's comments about wanting to play him, a stern-faced Woods replied: "Me too".

Elsewhere, McIlroy's team-mate Ian Poulter has moved to clear the air over doubts about his relationship with team captain Colin Montgomerie.

Poulter was a controversial wildcard selection by captain Nick Faldo two years ago, when he was criticised for not returning to Europe to play the final qualifying event.

At the time Montgomerie suggested that Poulter may have received preferential treatment from Faldo, and had a "hot-line" to the captain, a comment which was clearly not appreciated by Poulter.

But Poulter, who went on to be Europe's top points scorer at the 2008 Cup, insisted this was all water under the bridge.

"We understand each other very well," said Poulter.

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