Rory McIlroy walks off course at the Honda Classic

[phan52]

This deserves its own thread. Have at him.

[machiavelli]

You don't walk off the course. You respect the tournament organizers, the fans, your playing partner, but most importantly you HONOR THE GAME. Poor form, Rory.

[Chas]

Wha'appened, exactly?

[Ernest Jones]

Love the look on Ernie's face, "where the F*** are you going??"

[jamo]

Wha'appened, exactly?

He played about a dozen holes then, upon coming up short of a greenside bunker with an approach shot, he picked up his ball, shook the hands of his playing partners (Ernie Els and Mark Wilson), and walked straight off the course to his car.

[Chas]

How wet of you Rory.

(Brits will know exactly what I mean)

[christhegolfer]

I read in a article that he was seven over par.

[Clambake]

Wow, is he ever going to get skewered for this.    He was at 7 over on the day, and hit hit second shot into the water on 18 (his 9th hole of the day) and then walked off without finishing the hole.   A couple holes early he put 2 into the water on 16, taking a triple.   He told reporters in the parking lot that he just "wasn't in a good place mentally", but then later issued a statement saying that he had a sore wisdom tooth, which sounds like backtracking after the mental comment.

[Ernest Jones]

Originally Posted by Clambake

Wow, is he ever going to get skewered for this.    He was at 7 over and hit hit second shot into the water on 18 (his 9th hole of the day) and then walked off without finishing the hole.      He told reporters in the parking lot that he just "wasn't in a good place mentally", but then later issued a statement saying that he had a sore wisdom tooth, which sounds like backtracking after the mental comment.

I think he said his wisdom was injured, the tooth part was a misquote.

Rory is one of my favorite players but this is pretty classless. Camilo is still hanging in there.

Time to start rooting for Henley!

[RPMPIRE]

As the defending champ, clearly a poor decision. He'll be hearing about this for a while.

[nututhugame]

Poor Nike. Total disaster for them. WTF is Rory doing?

[Ernest Jones]

I'm sure the magnitude of this misstep will sink in on the ride home and he probably already regrets the WD.

[Ernest Jones]

Originally Posted by nututhugame

Poor Nike. Total disaster for them. WTF is Rory doing?

LOL.

[preisman]

A bad tooth ache will put you mentally out of a game. Why fight the pain and struggle to even stay focused? I understand play through to the end, but if he hurt his ankle and walked off this would not be an issue. An injury is an injury. This is all based on if he is telling the truth. If he mentally quit because he was going to shoot in the 80s, then shame on him. I am not a fan, but I will not hold this against him while the only thing we know is he is in pain from his tooth. I wouls stop playing myself. Every step would be painful with a busted tooth.

[newtogolf]

I get that his wisdom tooth hurt and I'd even be willing to give him the benefit of the doubt if he said it before the round started.  Now it just looks like a made up excuse that he threw out there to avoid fines from the PGA Tour and a hand slap from Nike.

[n8dogg2669]

Originally Posted by preisman

A bad tooth ache will put you mentally out of a game. Why fight the pain and struggle to even stay focused? I understand play through to the end, but if he hurt his ankle and walked off this would not be an issue. An injury is an injury. This is all based on if he is telling the truth. If he mentally quit because he was going to shoot in the 80s, then shame on him. I am not a fan, but I will not hold this against him while the only thing we know is he is in pain from his tooth. I wouls stop playing myself. Every step would be painful with a busted tooth.

He told the reporters on the way out that he "was in a bad palce mentally". And then they asked if anything was wrong physically and he said "No". Now the Camp Rory and Nike PR spin o rama machine has a hold of it and it is a wisdom tooth issue. IMO he is having equipment and swing issues and he has to play through it. To disgrace the game like that and walk off is outrageous. Think of the non-exempt guy or Monday qualifier who couldnt play because Rory was in the field. We have all seen the Monday qualifier, or sponsor exempt guy do real well in a tournament. It could have been somebodies big break but Rory didnt want to put up an 80 on the card, so he threw a fit and left. Unacceptable and I hope the PGA puts a hefty fine and I would love to see a suspension. You can;t just have guys walk off becuase you are playing bad. Anyone who plays golf knows you can be lights out on Saturday and not be able to find a fairway on sunday. Thats the great part of the game and he just set a very very poor example for all the young kids who look up to him. Selfish act if you ask me, but opinions are like _____ so flame away if you dont agree with what I typed.

[bplewis24]

Guys, can somebody post a source or quote for the "wisdom tooth" thing.  Because here is what I've seen so far:

ESPN reports that no excuse was given moments after he withdrew.

Later, media sources quoted Rory as saying there was nothing physically wrong with him (which would mean no wisdom tooth pain), and that he was mentally in a bad place.

Now I'm hearing the golf channel says it was a wisdom tooth issue, but another poster says that may have been a misquote.

Either way, I'm going to assume Rory's first statement was the most transparent, and that even if he did bring up wisdom tooth pain, that is an attempt at spin/damage control.  Regardless, anybody with a source on it?

[cipher]

http://www.golfchannel.com/news/golftalkcentral/mcilroy-withdraws-walks-off-honda-course/

Here it is.