World No. 1 Rory McIlroy  heads into his defence of this week’s Honda Classic under enormous pressure j ust make the cut in the event being played at the PGA National course in Palm Beach Gardens.

McIlroy missed the cut in his first competitive outing last monthin Abu Dhabi using new Nike clubs and then again left Nike Golf executives crimson-faced in being beaten last week by fellow Irishman Shane Lowry in the opening round of the WGC – Accenture Match-Play Championship.

And one of the first questions McIlroy faced ahead of Thursday’s start to the $US 6m Florida event concerned the most talked about equipment change in recent memory.

Rory McIlroy signalling an errant drive during last month’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. (Photo – Fran Caffrey/www.golffile.ie)

“It’s still an adjustment period,” said McIlroy.

“It’s going to be a gradual thing. There’s obviously a bit of an overlap there and you have to just try and get your way into it as best you can.

“But as I’ve said the last few weeks, it’s more about how I’m swinging the club. That’s the real concern … well, it’s not a concern for me, but I would like to get back to where I was, say, the middle of last year. Because if you put my swing now up against the way I was swinging it last year, it’s chalk and cheese. So that’s the real thing that I’m working on.’

“I felt like when I turned up in Abu Dhabi, I was pretty much ready, but you never really know until you play competitive rounds.

“That shored up a few things in my swing and in the equipment and I went and rectified that.

“Last week I felt I drove the ball very well, which was a huge positive, because that was sort of the glaring weakness in my game in Abu Dhabi.”

And McIlroy revealed he and fellow Nike stablemate, Tiger Woods played a friendly match last Sunday at the Medalist Club in Florida, and were off the private members course long before the start of Sunday’s WGC – Accenture Match-Play final in Arizona.

“It was the first time I’ve actually been up at the Medalist and it’s nice,” said McIlroy.

“We teed off at about 8 a.m. and I was home by 1:30 p.m. We played quick as  Tiger putts with the pin in.  So it was speed golf. It was good. It was really enjoyable.”

The last time McIlroy met Woods headon it was late last year in China for the Duel at Lake Jinsha where McIlroy enjoyed bragging rights shooting a 68 to Woods’ 69.

But on this occasion McIlroy disclosed Woods won the opening 18 holes over the Medalist and with the Northern Irishman the second.

And McIlroy was bragging twelve months ago when he went to No. 1 in the world for a first time in his career by keeping Woods at arms reach to win the Honda Classic by two strokes after Woods stormed home with a 62.