World Snooker – Ronnie O’Sullivan out to follow legend Tigers Woods

Woods had to wait 11 years to end his majors drought, but O’Sullivan – who opens up against amateur James Cahill on Monday – was not surprised by events at Augusta.

The 43-year-old brackets Woods among the sporting greats -–an elite club O’Sullivan surely deserves membership of.

“It was great to watch Tiger achieve greatness,” he said. “A lot of people in sport get spoken of in great terms, when they are not actually great, they are just run-of-the-mill players. When you talk about the greats, people like Usain Bolt, Tiger Woods, Ayrton Senna, Lionel Messi, Stephen Hendry, he is one of them. Sport is not just about the ability to do it, it’s about courage, mentality and that confidence to stamp your authority on the game.

O’Sullivan has a second home in Sheffield and admits he loves the city.

“I have spent a lot of time here over the years, with friends, there’s a lot of things here that interest me,” he added.

“My running, snooker, good restaurants. I have friends here and it just seemed like the right thing to do.”