A very apologetic Rory McIlroy faced the media this morning initially remarking he gave himself a ‘Red Card’ for walking off in last week’s defence of his Honda Classic title and then declaring it won’t happen again.

It was the World No. 1’s first press conference since last week’s controversial departure at PGA National at Palm Beach Gardens.

And to McIlroy’s enormous credit the 23-year old was again his honest self in front of the Blue Monster media.

However the conference began with McIlroy, wearing a bright yellow shirt, being drawn into last night’s Manchester -v- Madrid UEFA showdown at Old Trafford when the Spanish side knocked McIlroy’s beloved team out of the competition with a 4 – 3 winning aggregate.

“I give myself a red card last week,” Rory 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 wasn’t going to be good enough to make the cut.

“At that point in time I was all over the place.  It was a mistake, and everyone makes mistakes, and I’m learning from them. . . . Some people have I guess the pleasure of making their mistakes in private; most of my mistakes are in the public eye. It won’t happen again.”

Rory said he’s figured out his takeaway and that it’s just a matter of getting it down. He worked about 10 hours at the Bears Club on Saturday and a little less on Sunday. Monday was a full day and he practiced Tuesday morning before watching Manchester United being beaten.

“I should’ve stayed out and hit more balls.”

The question of McIlroy’s new Nike clubs was raised and whether or not they are the root cause of McIlroy’s frustration that has seen him play just four-and-a-half rounds of golf this season in three tournaments.

“It’s just purely the swing and the equipment if fantastic so I have no problems at all,” he said.

“When I make a good swing it does exactly what I want.”

A packed WGC – Cadillac Championship press room hears an apologetic World No.1 Rory McIlroy vowing never to walk off again. (Photo – Fran Caffrey/www.golffile.ie)

He also addressed rumors that he and tennis playing girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki had broken up, which some had speculated was at the root of his problems last week at Palm Beach Gardens.

“Just because I have a bad day on the golf course, and Caroline loses a match, does not mean we are breaking up,” he said.

And McIlroy was asked given he’s been struggling with his game, will he consider adding an event before the Masters next month.

At this stage, McIlroy’s next and only event before the Masters is the Shell Houston Open being staged a fortnight before the Masters.

“I haven’t planned on adding an event before the Masters yet,” he said.

“Right now I haven’t made a decision and I feel like I’ve made some progressed over the last few days. The likelihood is that i probably won’t add an event.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rory said he should’ve “knuckled-down” on his swing from the start.

“I’m going to do this, no matter how long it takes, no matter what the result is, no matter how bad I play for a few weeks. This is what I have to get right. . . .

“I guess after the last few weeks I sort of realized that.”

• • •

Will Rory return to the Honda Classic in 2014?

“I think I owe it to the tournament to play again. . . . I don;t see any reason why I wouldn’t play it next year.”

• • •

Does Rory feel like he lost some fans last week?

“No, not at all. Everyone makes mistakes. I’m 23 years old. I’m still learning. Hopefully, I got 20-25 mroe years of this to do and having the pleasure of talking to you guys every Wednesday.”

Some more laughs after that one.

• • •

Rory said he feels like he’s been taking the club too far outside and coming down too far inside.

“I’ve done a lot of work. . . . We knew that it was a little bit of a problem and we were trying to find a balance between making a bit of swing chance and finding some playability in it so that I can go out there and play and not think about. But what we realized is there’s no quick fixes in golf. You have to get to the root of the problem. No pun intended.”

Rory said he’s not putting any pressure on himself this week, but instead just focusing on that swing.

“I know that if I can get my takeaway fixed the rest of the swing will follow.”

• • •

Has Rory ever quit during a round before?

“Maybe,” he said.

But Rory, who admitted he almost quit the game a few times as a teenager, reaffirmed his love for the game.

“It’s been my life for, well, it’s been my life for my life. . . . I’ve got to go out there and enjoy myself.

“It’s the same thing as last summer. Dave Stockton said to me, ‘When I see you out there, you’re not smiling. Smile more.’ . . . I haven’t been enjoying it because I’ve been putting so much pressure on myself. . . . . (This week at Doral,) I’ve got four rounds thankfully, I’m just going to go out there and have a good time.”

Which is why he said he has to stick through it.

“I learned that when the going gets tough 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. . . . I feel like I let a lot of people down with what I did last week, and for that I’m sorry.”

• • •

Rory said he’s been letting the pressure get to him.

“It was a build-up of everything. I’ve been putting a lot of pressure on myself to perform. I’ve been working so hard and not really getting much out of it. That’s just been the frustrating thing. . . . It was a build-up of high expectations from myself, coming off the back of such a great year last year, and you want to continue that form into this year – and not being able to do it, I just sort of let it all get to me.”

• • •

Rory says his tooth pain wasn’t bad enough to quit last week.

“I wasn’t in a good place in 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. . . . My tooth was bothering, but it wasn’t bothering me enough to quit.”

Rory said he’s worn braces and taken medication to help relieve the pain in the past. He also said the only person he’d trust to fix the problem is his dentist back home in Northern Ireland.

McIlroy will commence only his fourth tournament of 2013 in the company of World No. 2 Tiger Woods and current World No. 3 Luke Donald.

“I’ve got to remember I started to play golf because I love it, I really do,” said McIlroy.

“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.”