Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy, who has been having an impressive season on the PGA Tour, has brushed aside suggestions that 14-time major winner Tiger Woods is intimidated by him.
"He's (Tiger's) got a new nickname for me, actually. He calls me 'The Intimidator'," the 23-year-old golfer joked while addressing reporters in Atlanta Wednesday, where he is busy preparing for this week's Tour Championship.
"How can I intimidate Tiger Woods? I mean, the guy's got 75 or whatever PGA Tour wins, 14 majors. He's been the biggest thing ever in our sport.
"How could some little 23-year-old from Northern Ireland with a few wins come up and intimidate him. It's just not possible. I don't know where he got that from, but it's not true."
Aussie great, Greg Norman, nicknamed The Great White Shark, had sparked a debate when he was quoted by FoxSports.com as saying: "What I'm seeing is that Tiger's really intimidated by Rory.
"But I think he knows his time's up and that's normal; these things tend to go in 15-year cycles. Jack (Nicklaus) took it (the baton) from Arnold (Palmer). I took it from Jack, Tiger from me and now it looks like Rory's taking it from Tiger."
American golfer Jim Furyk had later seconded the opinion when speaking about the Ryder Cup pairings he said: "Obviously, he's a marked man. He's the No. 1 player in the world. He's going to garner all the attention, as well he should.
"He's played phenomenal this year. ... He's right now the present day Tiger Woods, where everyone's eyes are on him. Tiger is still Tiger. Everyone would love to see that pairing in the Ryder Cup."
Asked whether he had ever been intimidated by any other golfer, Woods replied:"No. No one is the size of (Baltimore Ravens linebacker) Ray Lewis who is going to hit me coming over the middle.
"This is a different kind of sport. We go out there and we play our own game, and see where it falls at the end of the day. This is about execution and going about your own business. Here no one is affecting any shots," added the 36-year-old American, who has not won a major since the 2008 U.S. Open.
McIlroy will be aiming for a fourth victory in five starts when he takes to the greens at the East Lake Golf Club Thursday.