Rory McIlroy has added his voice to those wishing a speedy recovery to legendary former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, who remains in hospital following a brain haemorrhage.

Ferguson underwent emergency surgery on Saturday and no medical update has since been released.

United boss Jose Mourinho told a news conference on Wednesday that he was "confident" of a swift recovery, but was reluctant to go into further detail.

McIlroy is a well-known Red Devils fan and once spoke of how a speech from Ferguson ahead of the 2014 Ryder Cup left him "in a trance".

And, addressing the media ahead of the Players Championship, McIlroy offered his best wishes.

"I was shocked to hear the news last weekend that he'd been to hospital, I'm just glad he's pulling through and he's conscious now and the procedure went well apparently," he said. 

"It's also funny I read that his first words were 'how did Doncaster get on?' to his son [Darren, manager of Doncaster Rovers], that's pretty funny too. 

"He's a great man, he's a very driven individual, he says complacency is a disease, that's his big line. He hates complacency, he hates people resting on laurels. 

"I've gotten to know Sir Alex pretty well, from the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles, then he came and did a charity thing with me in Dublin a couple of years ago for the Irish Open which was really good of him to do. 

"So, hopefully he makes a speedy recovery. I know everyone who has been in touch with him thinks the world of him, there are a lot of people out there supporting him. Hopefully he's back to full health soon."