RORY MCILROY has opened up on the time he nearly stole Tiger Woods’ glove as a teen.

The Northern Irishman and the 15-time major winner are now close pals, but McIlroy used to be a superfan.

Ahead of the Masters that gets underway today, the 33-year-old reminisced about the first time he saw Woods play.

He watched his hero feature at the World Golf Championship event in his homeland in 2002 and nearly got a souvenir to remember.

McIlroy explained: “I somehow sneaked my way under the rope onto the back of the green and I was standing right behind him and his glove was still in his back pocket.

“And I could have reached and got it and ran; it would have been a good story to tell him, but I obviously didn’t.

“It was the first time I ever watched Tiger play live.

“I remember the first shot I ever saw him hit was a drive off the fifth hole, the par five, and he hit a two-iron into the green.

“It was really cool. I idolised him growing up and to actually see the man in the flesh was pretty exciting.”

McIlroy has a chance to write himself into the history books at Augusta, as victory would mean he would become just the sixth man ever to complete a Career Slam by winning all four majors.

However, he has not clinched glory at one of the big events since lifting The Open and PGA Championship in 2014.

McIlroy is ready to lean on his experience and what he has learnt through idolising Woods.

He told the BBC: “The one thing Tiger did really well at Augusta is discipline.

“The course can really goad you into taking shots that you don’t need to take on and if you look at the two most successful players at Augusta, it’s Tiger and Jack (Nicklaus).

“They are the two most disciplined players in the history of our game. Not taking on too much risk. Not getting ahead of yourself. That’s the formula to do well at the Masters.”

McIlroy’s first round begins at 6:28pm and he faces Sam Burns and Joo-Hyung Kim.