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| Rory McIlroy |
RORY MCILROY MET WITH THE MEDIA today at Doral in Miami for the first time since his walkoff last Friday at the Honda Classic.
“It was a mistake,” Rory McIlroy said about his abrupt withdrawal during last week’s second round. The world No. 1 was 7-over par through eight holes. He was headed for another missed cut.
“Everyone makes mistakes. I’m learning from them. Some people have the pleasure of making their mistakes in private. Most of my mistakes are in the public eye.”
Besides an aching wisdom tooth, Rory said his head wasn’t right.
“I wasn’t in a good place with my golf game. My head was all over the place. I realized pretty quickly that it wasn’t the right thing to do. No matter how bad I was playing, I should have stayed out there.
“There’s no excuse for quitting and it doesn’t set a good example for the kids watching me. It wasn’t good for a whole lot of reasons, for the tournaments, the people coming out watching me. I feel like I let a lot of people down with what I did last week. For that, I am very sorry.
“I learned that when the tough gets going, I’ve got to stick in there a bit more and I’ve got to grind it out.”
Rory also said there’s no problem with his Nike equipment or his tennis-star girlfriend. His swing, however, has given him fits lately. He’s working on it.
McIlroy will be grouped with Tiger Woods and Luke Donald in the first two rounds of the WGC-Cadillac Championship, which begins on Thursday at TPC Blue Monster.
“It’s not life or death out there,” he added. “It’s only a game. I had sort of forgotten that this year. I’ve got to remember I started to play golf because I love it. I’ve got four rounds, thankfully. I haven’t been enjoying it because I’ve been putting so much pressure on myself. I have to go out there and enjoy myself.”
Glad to hear this from Rory. He is young and thrust into the spotlight of being the #1 golfer in the world. He has a good head on his shoulders and it's nice that he is thinking of being a good role model for younger kids.
Golf needs a kid like this. Get out there Rory and have some fun!
It's not going to be "fun" for Rory….I said when everyone in the media was saying he is a good bet to eclipse Tiger's major wins…
There was just too much expectation thrust upon Rory.The expectations are relentess and I won't wish this upon anyone.
We have already seen,Rory is no where near being Tigeresque.Too many miss cuts,the passion is suspect,etc,etc.
Like I said then,I will say again if Rory wins as many majors as Faldo it will surprise me.
Rory's handlers should have just had him concentrate on playing golf & dating the cute girlies instead of participating in the Media frenzy as the best golfer.
I agree that it's a tough road for anyone following Tiger's success, just like it was for those who were dubbed the next Nicklaus. Few players in this era win multiple majors. Three to six is considered to be a great career. Rory has his work cut out for him.