Rory McIlroy walks out of Honda Classic citing wisdom tooth pain

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Rory McIlroy

World number one Rory McIlroy walked off the course after completing just eight holes of his second round at the Honda Classic in Florida.

The defending champion withdrew after hitting his second shot into the water on the 18th - his ninth - and slumping to seven over par for the day.

As he left, McIlroy told journalists he was not in a good frame of mind.

He later released a statement citing a painful wisdom tooth as the reason behind his withdrawal.

"I have been suffering with a sore wisdom tooth, which is due to come out in the near future," he said.

"It was very painful again this morning, and I was simply unable to concentrate. It was really bothering me and had begun to affect my playing partners.

"I came here with every intention of defending my Honda Classic title. Even though my results haven't revealed it, I really felt like I was turning a corner."

BBC Sport's Iain Carter, who is at Palm Beach Gardens, said McIlroy briefly spoke to journalists as he left the car park.

"At the ninth he picked up his ball, shook hands with his playing partners and went straight to the car park, driving off saying in his only comment that he is not in a good place mentally," said Carter.

The rules of golf stateexternal-link that players are not allowed to stop playing unless there is a threat of lightning or "some other good reason such as sudden illness".

The 23-year-old now has 14 days to provide PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem with written evidence to support his claim that he was hampered by a troublesome tooth. If the PGA is not satisfied then McIlroy could face a fine or ban.

McIlroy changed club and ball suppliers at the start of 2013 in a lucrative deal but has struggled for form since, missing the cut in his first tournament of the year in Abu Dhabi and then losing his opening match at the WGC Match Play.

The Northern Irishman carded a level-par round of 70 at Palm Beach Gardens on Thursday, and asked afterwards about his new clubs had said: "It's hard to commit to the shot that you need to play every time.

"I felt like I hit the ball OK, not as good as I can, but it's getting there."

However, he made a terrible start to Friday's second round with a triple bogey, a double bogey and two bogeys in his first eight holes.

McIlroy managed to find the fairway with his tee shot on the 18th, but his approach landed in the water and the 23-year-old called it a day.

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293 comments

  • Them Nike clubs look a fantastic idea.....

  • Apparently he also had trouble FILLING in his scorecard correctly, but his short game was starting to DECAY, so probably for the best FLUOR-A-RIDE back to the Club House.

    I'm out.....

  • He's right, toothache is awful, it's impossible to concentrate on ANYTHING when you have toothache, let alone playing a skillful game like golf. If the toothache thing ISN'T true... then..well.. he's an idiot who's on the cusp of believing he's bigger than the sport.

  • Makes a bit of a mockery of Nike's 'Just Do It' doesn't it?

  • Obviously his negative ion wristband is not lining up correctly with the earth's magnetic pulse modulation frequency matrix - it needs to be recalibrated by the Large Hadron Collider using those big super-cooled magnets. I'm happy to do it for him for $1000 including p &p.

  • Embarrasing, Rory's ego is growing too large, he may be an incredible talent but he needs to have a quiet talking to by someone. The Nike decision already looks like a moronic money driven move and, at the moment, has had only a detrimental affect on his game. Come on Rory, pull yourself together.

  • I like Rory but it sounds bad though does'nt it? Coming off the course for toothache. No wonder his critics are crawling out of the woodwork. A couple of co-codamol and 5 mins later you wont even remember you had toothache. Thats how I manage it. But then again, I think the most honest among us would concede that this is'nt the real reason he walked.

  • Sorry but he was eating a big massive sandwich on the same hole! You don't eat with toothache. Thinks he's bigger than golf.

  • Hold on, when Rory left the course as reported all over the net he only said
    'There's not really much I can say, guys," McIlroy said "I'm not in a good place mentally, you know?" He said there was nothing wrong physically. When asked about his swing, "Yeah, I really don't know what's going on."
    All of a sudden after 'his team' think about it he has tooth ache. You may all believe it, I don't.!

  • TBH, if he's telling the truth, I have some sympathy, a really bad toothache can leave you climbing the walls. You might get through 80 adrenaline-fuelled minutes on a soccer or Rugby pitch, but having had a few really bad ones over the years, I know I wouldn't want to play a round of golf. I'm inclined to believe him, because it sounds too lame to make up!

  • the PR people have ruled the day, Rory says one thing and to save face the PR people change it so it looks good for the sponsors, the tour and Nike, how sad when a so called top sports person just quits because he had another off day at the office, if we all did that then what a state we would be in

  • Theres no doubt he has a huge ego, he thinks hes the bees knees and he is right, he is, so having a big ego is understandable, he'll win a shed load more majors but no anytime soon by the looks of it with the club change, stay well away from betting on him for this years majors.

    The Westwood choke comment is funny because of its pure ignorance, name one time hes choked in a major?

  • His response suggests it is an impacted wisdom tooth not an infected one. If it was mind blowing pain suggested by some of the contributors below, one would suspect he would have been able to sort out a dentist for its immediate removal. But he says it will be removed in the "near future" which suggests a less pressing pain. In which case poor show Rory. I would be happy to be proved wrong.

  • So it's not the fact that the Swoosh equipment is rubbish, its a baddy tooth. C'mon Rors, you're better than that. Excuses such as this are worrying that it is the start of the decline of McIlroy as a likeable personable young man into a Nike Athlete.

  • tooth ache or toys out the pram? what are your thoughts?

  • Just Pull It.

  • 55.
    JAZZA_1995

    Who cares, you are pathetic, why are you reading this.?

  • Do not see Lee Westward walking of because his left toe is bigger than the other.
    Wisdom tooth, laugh as you know hen you have that problem days before it becomes unbearable.
    Poor boy was loosing, needs to learn to loose and come back and fight like a man.
    He has time on your hands and can mature into a very good golfer, so let us wait a couple of years to see him become that person we like to see

  • I don't care who you are, you do not walk off a golf course. Unless you have an injury which stops you from swinging the club or walking then you do not quit mid-round - Tiger won the US Open with a broken leg!!

    Signs that he believes he is bigger than the game. I know he has been phenomenally successful so far in his career but he has not earned the right to treat it with such disdain.

  • I can't believe how many people assume they know exactly what's happened here and are jumping down Rory's throat! Don't be too quick to judge when you don't know all the facts!

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