Rory McIlroy takes a swing at fitness and Tiger Woods doubters

Rory McIlroy took a breather from prepping for this week’s Honda Classic by jumping into the Twitter tumult Tiger Woods created when he went all Rory with his home video response to those who dared believe the 14-time major winner could barely walk.

Woods may well have borrowed the idea from his Nike stablemate of wasting few words (just two: “Progressing nicely”) in replying to his skeptics.

McIlroy, you may recall, last week brilliantly skewered Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee and other critics of his workout regimen with an in-your-face vid of his squats routine.

Woods -- rather than have another mouthpiece report on the state of his back following his third procedure in almost two years -- took to Twitter on Wednesday morning to prove he was not only alive and well but able to smack a ball off a mat. With his riposte later in the day, Rory got in another jab at Chamblee by mocking Tiger’s strength — or lack thereof, if there’s any truth to recent rumors about Woods’ inability even to sit in a car without pain.

Still no word on when Woods may be back in rotation, but McIlroy was scheduled to tee off at the PGA National on Thursday at 12:45 p.m. ET with Zach Johnson and Padraig Harrington.