PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Sometimes reality bites.
Maybe the lack of any true adversity on his mercurial path to golf stardom and the world’s No. 1 ranking failed to prepare Rory McIlroy for those times when reality gets in the way of a good time.
A year ago at the Honda Classic, the tournament McIlroy won in 2012 to elevate himself to No. 1 in the world, the affable Northern Irishman suffered the low point of his career, embarrassing himself by walking off the PGA National championship course on the ninth hole of his second round, exasperated by his poor play with his shiny, new Nike equipment.
It was a stunning display of immaturity from a player who early in his career left so many of us in awe with the mature way he conducted himself at such a young age. For the first time, McIlroy acted like a child, even attempting to make the excuse he withdrew because of a toothache (something he later retracted).
The same way it was for Tiger Woods in his early days, McIlroy’s mistakes were played out in the public eye. Top players such as Woods and McIlroy grow up in a fishbowl. It’s one of the curses of stardom.
On Wednesday, the eve of this year’s Honda Classic and a year removed from his meltdown, McIlroy reflected on the mistake he made and what he learned from it. He said it all “feels like a long time ago.’’
“There were a lot of things going on at that time,’’ McIlroy said. “Obviously, my game wasn’t where I wanted it to be. My mental state wasn’t quite where I needed it to be. It was just a very difficult time.’’
In the wake of being ranked No. 1 in the world and signing a record-setting financial deal to play with Nike clubs, expectations rose to a level McIlroy had difficulty handling. He could not hit a fairway with his new driver if it was as wide as Central Park and, with his tee shots the lifeblood of his mojo, McIlroy’s game suffered.
Off the course, McIlroy was in the midst of two complicated changes to his management team as well as having to deal with the constant scrutiny of his relationship with tennis star Caroline Wozniacki (with whom he has since become engaged).
McIlroy called it all “difficult to deal with, especially when you haven’t had to deal with it before.
“Everyone deals with it in different ways,’’ he said. “I guess it was a little bit of a shock to the system for me, and I just needed a little bit of time to deal with a few different things.’’
He said it took “a couple of days’’ before he realized the magnitude of his mistake at Honda, quitting in the middle of a round, and he learned from it.
“You should never walk off the golf course, no matter how bad things are,’’ McIlroy said. “But, it was just one of those days I just felt like I couldn’t cope with anything more, especially not the way I was heading — I was going to shoot 90, the last thing I needed. I’ve learned from it and I’ve moved on. It wasn’t my finest hour, but at the end of the day, everyone makes mistakes.’’
McIlroy now looks and sounds like someone who’s better for having gone through it — as painful as it might have been at the time. He won the Australian Open in December, his first victory since 2012, and has shown signs of returning to the form that got him to No. 1.
“I’m in a better place and I feel like when my game is in a good place everything else can sort of fall in line with that,’’ McIlroy said. “It makes me feel more comfortable about everything. I’m glad that everything has sort of just been cleared up. I’m happy with where I am now.’’