Rory McIlroy looks forward to Tiger Woods-free zone at Honda Classic

Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy won’t see each other on the golf course to start this week at PGA National and that’s just fine with the winner of the 2012 Honda Classic.

“I’ll gladly be on the opposite end of the draw this week,” a smiling McIlroy told reporters on the eve of his 12:35 p.m. ET tee time on tee No. 1 on Thursday.

McIlroy, who enjoyed Tiger’s company but not the swarms of boisterous fans accompanying Woods in his third tournament since returning from his fourth back surgery, referred to the disparate opening tee times of the two superstars at the Honda. With a 7:45 a.m. tee time on the 10th tee (with Brandt Snedeker and Patton Kizzire), Rory’s boyhood idol will likely be off the course by the time McIlroy tees off in round one.

McIlroy — who complained after last week’s opening two rounds with the game’s most popular golfer that rowdy fans yelling stupid remarks during players’ swings probably cost Woods a couple of strokes — is good with that.

The sheer numbers and the way they moved as one after Tiger hit a shot drove Rory to distraction — and to the medicine cabinet.

“It’s tiring,” McIlroy said after Friday’s second round with Woods and Justin Thomas. “I need a couple Advil just to — I’ve got a headache after all that.”

Indeed, McIlroy mentioned ahead of last week’s tilt at Riviera that he might have preferred “a quiet couple of days” for his 2018 PGA Tour debut. Instead, he got 36 holes of the full Tiger experience, an opportunity to add to his head-to-head contest with Woods that he said prior to the outing he would “relish and embrace.”

“It’s fine. It’s good fun,” McIlroy said last week. “I would rather be in this group than not.”

By the end of the exhausting two-day stint, McIlroy was ready for a break from the madness. He’ll get that, playing alongside Padraig Harrington and Adam Scott for the first couple rounds in Palm Beach Gardens.

Of course, it’s not just Tiger who inspires bad behavior outside the ropes. Discourteous behavior formerly more accepted at Fenway Park and Gillette Stadium than the fairways of the PGA Tour has become par for the course, thanks in large part to the annual beer kegger that is the Phoenix Open, where rowdies are encouraged to heckle and jeer.

Thomas, for one, would like fans to pipe down and get a grip.

“I guess it’s a part of it now, unfortunately. I wish it wasn’t, I wish people didn’t think it was so amusing to yell and all that stuff while we’re trying to hit shots and play,” Thomas said after his third round at Riviera. “But when people are now starting to time it wrong and get in people’s swings, is just completely unacceptable really.”

So, yeah, McIlroy won’t have to deal with Tiger-mania, but he would be wise to buckle up and cover his ears when he enters the Bear Trap. He will likely receive no respite from Genesis-type antics — especially from the well-lubed patrons in party areas on PGA National’s 17th hole, where several establishments serve adult beverages.

Just ask Sergio Garcia, who endured merciless heckling all week at last year’s Honda.

“When it gets a little bit out of hand, then it becomes a little bit too much of a party time,” Garcia told reporters on Tuesday ahead of his first tour start of the year. “The people have to realize that, yeah, we’re trying to make sure they have a good time, but if they are making it harder for us to create good golf, it’s tougher for them to enjoy it, too.”

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