DORAL, Fla. — Rory McIlroy Wednesday took full ownership of his gaffe at last week’s Honda Classic.
McIlroy, who quit in the middle of his second round at PGA National last Friday because he was playing poorly, said he knew what he did was wrong almost as soon as he walked off the course and said he “regretted’’ doing it because it set a poor example for kids who follow him.
“I realized pretty quickly that it wasn’t the right thing to do,’’ McIlroy, speaking to reporters for the first time since the incident took place, said. “No matter how bad I was playing I should have stayed out there. I should have tried to shoot the best score possible even though it probably wasn’t going to be good enough to make the cut.
“At that point in time, I was just all over the place, and you know, I saw red … it was a mistake and everyone makes mistakes and I’m learning from them. Some people have the the pleasure of making mistakes in private. Most of my mistakes are in the public eye. I regret what I did, but it’s over now and it won’t happen again.’’
McIlroy, the world No. 1 ranked player, who tees it up alongside Tiger Woods in the first round of the WGC-Cadillac Championship here on Thursday, initially told reporters after he quit that it was because he was “in a bad place mentally,’’ but later his representatives issued a statement that blamed sore wisdom teeth.
Asked which was the truth, McIlroy said, “Both. I wasn’t in a good place with my golf game. Mentally, my head was all over the place. But at the same time, I have been struggling with my lower right wisdom tooth for over a year.
“I had braces on for six months last year to try and relieve a bit of the pressure on it and taking medication until I get home in northern Ireland and see my dentist, who is the only guy that I would trust to take it out.
“So, yeah, look, my tooth was bothering me, but it wasn’t bothering me enough to probably, you know, quit.’’
After McIlroy’s sudden withdrawal, there was speculation in the British press that his actions were related to something having gone wrong in his relationship with his girlfriend, tennis star Carolina Wozniacki.
McIlroy flatly denied that and actually found the speculation amusing.
“I’ve read what’s been written, and just because I have a bad day on the golf course and Caroline loses a match in Malaysia it doesn’t mean that we’re breaking up,’’ McIlroy said. “It’s sport. Look, I’d rather keep my private life as private as possible, but everything on that front is great and I’m looking forward to seeing her next week when she gets to Miami.’’
McIlroy said his actions were a result of “a buildup of everything.’’
“I’ve been putting a lot of pressure on myself to perform and I’ve been working so hard and not really getting much out of it,’’ he said. “That’s just been the frustrating thing and that’s what happened. It was a buildup of high expectations from myself coming off such a great year last year and wanting to continue that form into this year and not being able to do it.
“I just sort of let it all get to me.’’
McIlroy had a missed cut in Abu Dhabi, a first-round elimination at the Match Play and last week’s fiasco at Honda on his 2013 playing resume to date, and is also dealing with the change to Nike clubs — something he insists has not been a problem. But until he begins to play well, the whispers about his equipment being a problem will persist.
McIlroy said the lesson he learned from last week was “when the tough gets going I’ve got to stick in there a bit more and I’ve got to grind it out.”
“There’s no excuse for quitting and it doesn’t set a good example for the kids watching me, trying to emulate way do,’’ he said. “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, and for that I am very sorry.
“Everyone makes mistakes. I’m 23 years old. I’m still learning. I’ve hopefully got 20, 25 more years of this to do and having the pleasure of talking to you guys every Wednesday.’’
He said when he got home and had time to think about things, he realized he’s stopped having fun with the game this year and he needed to change that.
“I’ve got to remember, I started to play golf because I love it, I really do,’’ he said. “It’s been my life for … well, it’s been my life for, my life. I have to remember that. I have to go out there and enjoy myself. When you start to enjoy your golf, you start to play better and I haven’t been enjoying it because I’ve been putting so much pressure on myself.
“I will go out here this week and I’m going to enjoy it. I’ve got four rounds, thankfully.’’
Indeed, because there is no cut at this week’s tournament, McIlroy is guaranteed to play all four rounds for the first time this year.