Rory McIlroy congratulated Tiger Woods on achieving golf's number one ranking on Monday.

McIlroy, regarded by many as the heir apparent to the Woods 'throne', sent a text message to the 14-time major champion on Tuesday. He was also full of admiration for what Woods has achieved.

"I've always said he's (Woods) been one of the greatest fighters on a golf course," said McIlroy on Tuesday.

"If things aren't going his way, he'll dig in and get whatever he can out of a round. He can repeat day-in, day-out, that attitude and that single-mindedness or that drive or motivation, I think that's his most impressive aspect," added the Northern Irishman.

McIlroy, who has relinquished the number one ranking to Woods after 32 weeks at the helm, does concede that life below the summit of men's golf might actually do him some good ahead of next month's Masters tournament.

"I didn't think I could go into the Masters under the radar," said McIlroy, who hasn't enjoyed much success in the 2013 season.

"I can go in a little bit underneath him. So, in a way, it's not a bad thing," added a slightly relieved McIlroy.

McIlroy opted to skip last week's Arnold Palmer Invitational, which initially sparked some controversy.

However, very little has been said about him since then. McIlroy suggested that he perhaps needed some time out of the golfing spotlight.

"People left me alone, it was fine," said McIlroy.

"It's nice to just go, not just go about my business and no one cares, but you go about it and not be, I guess, the most talked about person in golf. It's a nice thing," said McIlroy.

McIlroy is also confident that he will be able to emerge from everything that has happened to him this season, feeling stronger and more confident.

"We're not machines, we're humans," said McIlroy.

"You're going to have patches where you play great and have patches where you struggle a little bit. I guess you've just got to take the rough and the smooth and just try and treat those times, sort of play and be patient and know that you're working on the right things."

Golf 365