McIlroy expected to address W/D

Northern Irishman set to speak to media at Doral about sudden Honda exit

Tooth of the matter: Rory McIlroy withdrew just eight holes into the second round of the Honda Classic

Rory McIlroy is expected to address his withdrawal from the Honda Classic during round two of the tournament when he faces the media ahead of this week’s WGC-Cadillac Championship in Miami.

Defending champion McIlroy walked off the course after playing the first eight holes of his second round in seven-over-par and was told reporters at PGA National: “I’m not in a great place mentally. I can’t really say much, guys. I’m just in a bad place mentally.”

Shortly thereafter, a statement was issued declaring that the two-time major-winner had been forced out of the tournament by severe toothache, which was later seemingly corroborated by the world No.1 himself when he Tweeted: “Apologies to all at the Honda. A tough day made impossible by severe tooth pain. Was desperate to defend title but couldn’t play on. Gutted.”

These claims, however, are at odds with first-hand accounts of those on-site at the tournament.

McIlroy was apparently asked three times if a physical ailment had forced his withdrawal. Each time he is reported to have replied ‘no’.

A tweet from the Golf Channel’s Bailey Mosier in the immediate aftermath of McIlroy’s withdrawal then quoted his management company. It said: “Rory’s agent: He’s not hurt. He’s not sick. And he won’t answer his phone. I don’t know.”

That all happened before a picture is said to have been taken of Rory eating a sandwich before being driven away from the venue – again evidently at odds with the claim of toothache which followed.

McIlroy’s ignominious exit from the Honda Classic continued his nightmare start to 2013, during which time he has managed only 80 competitive holes of golf.

He missed the cut in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship in January and was eliminated from the opening round of the WGC-Accenture Matchplay Championship just over a week ago. He finished runner-up in both of these tournaments last year.

McIlroy’s withdrawal will also intensify the interest in the deal he struck with Nike Golf to become part of its tour staff, a deal reported in some quarters to be worth up to $250m. Eyebrows were raised at the Northern Irishman’s decision to change his equipment following the most successful year of his career to date in 2012.

Toothache or otherwise, he is still – at the time of writing, at least – in the field for this week’s second World Golf Championship of the season at the Doral Golf & Country Club in Florida and is scheduled to speak to the press on Tuesday.

Already, several people have weighed in to how McIlroy should handle the storm that has engulfed him since his withdrawal, including Tiger Woods, himself no stranger to matters of intense media interest.

“I’ve been through it for a long time,” said Woods. “But this is a slightly different era. It’s even faster than what it was when I came out. Things are instantaneous around the world. We were still in fax machines, things were a little bit slower.

“But still, you’ve just got to think about it a little bit more before you say something or do something. It can get out of hand, especially when you get into social media and start Tweeting and all those different things that can go wrong. Jokingly saying something doesn’t always come off as saying that, even though the intent was different. It could be perceived as something else.”

Rory’s former ISM stablemate Lee Westwood added: “I’ve withdrawn before. It’s a fine line, really, and a difficult decision to make. You know, if you’re over par, people are going to say, ‘Oh, he took the easy way out’. But if you’re injured, you’re injured, and you have to pull out. There’s always another week.”

McIlroy was third in the WGC-Cadillac Championship last year. Given all that has happened to him so far this year, he would no doubt happily take a repeat of that right now.

Michael McEwan is the Deputy Editor of bunkered and has been part of the team since 2004. In that time, he has interviewed almost every major figure within the sport, from Jack Nicklaus, to Rory McIlroy, to Donald Trump. The host of the multi award-winning bunkered Podcast and a member of Balfron Golfing Society, Michael is the author of three books and is the 2023 PPA Scotland 'Writer of the Year' and 'Columnist of the Year'. Dislikes white belts, yellow balls and iron headcovers. Likes being drawn out of the media ballot to play Augusta National.

Deputy Editor