Rory McIlroy has laughed off claims that he intimidates former world number one Tiger Woods.
McIlroy: The 'Intimidator'?
McIlroy was asked to respond to comments made by Greg Norman, who said: "Tiger's really intimidated by Rory. I think he knows his time is up."
McIlroy wasn't having any of it, though, responding: "No, how can I intimidate Tiger Woods? I mean, the guy's got 70-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 Greg got that from, but it's not true."
Woods, up to world number two again, also dismissed the claim: "It's not like somebody is going to take your block off. This is a different kind of sport - we play our own game and see where it falls at the end of the day.
"In tennis you can do that [intimidate] because you are playing against somebody. Here nobody is affecting your shots."
McIlroy and Woods are first and second respectively in the FedEx Cup play-offs, and both head into Atlanta this week knowing that victory will see them win the $10m (£7m) bonus on offer.
Three others - Nick Watney, Phil Mickelson and Brandt Snedeker - also could still take the jackpot.
With two wins under his belt already, you might think that Rory has the The FedEx Cup wrapped up already, but the play-offs were purposefully set up to keep it interesting all the way to the end.
Last year, Bill Haas came from nowhere to take the spoils when he won the TOUR Championship in the final week.
"We play for a lot of money, for which we are very fortunate," said McIlroy.
"I would be disappointed to have played so well in the play-offs to then not finish it off. The money's nice, but I'm going to make plenty of money in my career so it doesn't really matter."
Woods has played second fiddle to McIlroy this summer, but knows a winning performance this week could leave him smiling.
"This has been a really good season," added Woods. "I'm now one of the better drivers - that's exciting for me - and my short game is starting to come around too, which is nice."
golf365.com