Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy warm up for Open Championship with practice round at Ballybunion Golf Club

Updated 07/07/2022 at 15:40 GMT

Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy will be in the spotlight at the Open Championship at St Andrews next week, but they got in some practice aware from the glare of the media at Ballybunion Golf Club in Ireland on Thursday. Club members took to social media to share images and videos of the two greats of the game.

Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods at the US PGA Championship in Tulsa.

Image credit: Eurosport

Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy elected to sidestep the Scottish Open, but were spotted playing at Ballybunion Golf Club on Thursday.

They are putting the finishing touches to their Open Championship preparations away form the glare of the media, after taking part in JP McManus’ Pro-Am on Monday and Tuesday.

McIlroy elected to take a break from the tour after a hectic recent schedule, while Woods is only playing majors at present as he contends with the leg injury he suffered in a car crash last year.

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While 14 of the world’s top 15 are in action at the Renaissance Club for this week’s Scottish Open, Woods and McIlroy were warming up for the Open at St Andrews on the fabled Ballybunion links on the west coast of Ireand.

Woods said at Adare Manor on Tuesday that he would remain in Ireland for his Open prep, but refused to divulge where he would be playing for fear of it turning into a media circus.

The secret was out on Thursday, with members of Ballybunion posting images on social media.

It is believed that JP McManus laid on a helicopter for Woods and McIlroy to get to Ballybunion.

Woods looked extremely relaxed as he posed for pictures and seemed to be swinging the club freely - albeit he was seen using a buggy to ease the strain on his leg.

The 46-year-old will tee it up at St Andrews next week more in hope than expectation, as his two appearances this year resulted in a 47th-place finish at the Masters and a withdrawal at the US PGA Championship.

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