Rory McIlroy walks off course at the Honda Classic

[Mr. Desmond]

Originally Posted by MacDutch

You all missed this?

That's tough to buy .... that the #1 player quits the course because his swing is too upright.

[soon_tourpro]

Originally Posted by Mr. Desmond

That's tough to buy .... that the #1 player quits the course because his swing is too upright.

young and cant get laid, of course it hammers his performance...

[Deryck Griffith]

Originally Posted by Dormie1360

SI phone interview Sunday night.

http://www.golf.com/tour-and-news/rory-mcilroy-regrets-honda-classic-withdrawl-exclusive-interview#ixzz2McCfKALd

It's great that he is taking ownership of his decision and facing it head on.  He needs to place his focus back on golf and less on GF and toothaches..

[Mr. Desmond]

Originally Posted by Deryck Griffith

It's great that he is taking ownership of his decision and facing it head on.  He needs to place his focus back on golf and less on GF and toothaches..

If that is the reason... Rors may have a little bs in him ... too embarrassed to admit the real deal. That is my guess.

[saevel25]

Well apparently he made an appointment for his tooth. I had a friend who had his wisdom teeth out, and he had to take a heavy duty pain medication for about a month afterwards. I was lucky with mine, i only took advil, and had little discomfort. So, its a crap shoot with how debilitating having your wisdom teeth out is. From the stand point of golf, you miss a month, you could miss two majors. So i see why he is posponing this, especially with the master's coming up.

As for leaving the golf course, i don't like it. Though the BS reason's announcer's were saying, oh because he's world number 1, or because he's defending champion, blah blah blah. That means crap, that's just trying to get people to go, "Oh yea, he did something terrible". For me, if your a pro, you committed to a round of golf, unless you have a serious debilitating injury, like strained back, or blown out knee. Just finish the round, reassess afterwards and see if you want to continue.

[Chas]

Indeed. And Tiger showed the way - to a fault almost - when he toughed it out at the Torrey Pines Open. I still bitterly regret not being there to witness as I could so easily have been. I'm not a T fanboy but that win will remain in the annals of the game one of the greatest exhibitions of toughness and dedication to the sport ever, if not the greatest. I dare say that Rory is learning the lesson. You play it out, almost no matter what.

[Ernest Jones]

Indeed. And Tiger showed the way - to a fault almost - when he toughed it out at the Torrey Pines Open. I still bitterly regret not being there to witness as I could so easily have been. I'm not a T fanboy but that win will remain in the annals of the game one of the greatest exhibitions of toughness and dedication to the sport ever, if not the greatest. I dare say that Rory is learning the lesson. You play it out, almost no matter what.

Legendary US Open.

[sacm3bill]

Originally Posted by turtleback

Yikes he isn't going to take care of it until after the US Open? He had painkillers but didn't use them?

Even the mildest prescription pain meds (Vicodin/Hydrocodone/etc.) make most people (at least those who don't use them regularly) a bit light-headed and/or sleepy. Certainly enough to affect *my* golf game. But yeah, waiting that long to have the procedure done doesn't make sense.

[Mr. Desmond]

I guess this is why I cal bs on his poor swing -- it's something that apparently can be cured in a couple of range sessions. Was he working on it beforehand? Doesn't he have a coach? Does someone have video from the Honda?

At least one writer says he recognizes the issue:

"There’s nothing wrong with Rory (or his equipment) that a small swing fix can’t correct. Rory is starting his takeaway by picking the club straight up and out, outside his intended swing path. (That’ll be $200, please. I take checks or PayPal.)"

Read more: http://www.golf.com/tour-and-news/simple-fix-rory-mcilroys-swing-problems#ixzz2MgwCEaYG

" Rory ought to be able to straighten that out in a few range sessions and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him somewhat back in form this week at Doral. Now whether he can adjust to the flight of his new irons and his new ball enough to make a slew of birdies, that’s another story. But Step 1 in Rory’s world right now is to get his swing back in order. Step 2 is adjusting to his new clubs and ball. The Honda was a jump in the wrong direction for him but on the panic scale, I’d put him only at DefCon 4, ticked up only slightly from DefCon 5, the base line. Nothing to worry about yet. Nothing to see here people—move along, please."

Read more: http://www.golf.com/tour-and-news/simple-fix-rory-mcilroys-swing-problems#ixzz2Mgw29EsR

[Deryck Griffith]

Originally Posted by Mr. Desmond

If that is the reason... Rors may have a little bs in him ... too embarrassed to admit the real deal. That is my guess.

My theory is simple.  He slacked off during the off season, and as we all know, when you don't work on your game (especially at the PGA Tour level), you get exposed.... quickly.  Now he is playing catch up in the middle of a season that is well into being started.

[bplewis24]

Originally Posted by MacDutch

You all missed this?

I noticed it.  People can interpret that differently, but to me it sounds like an implicit admission that the tooth had nothing to do with the withdrawal.  He admits what he did wasn't for the good of the game and was the wrong thing to do.  If you're injured or in severe pain, withdrawing is fine, and he would have nothing to feel ashamed of.

Also, let's not forget that Rory played through a (relatively minor) wrist injury either last year or the year before.  He's played through pain before.  He's not a wimp.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by Mr. Desmond

I guess this is why I cal bs on his poor swing -- it's something that apparently can be cured in a couple of range sessions. Was he working on it beforehand? Doesn't he have a coach? Does someone have video from the Honda?

No reason why that'd be BS. We work with good players, and sometimes they start doing something that you have to catch and clean up.

Rory's path has always been well OUTward. If he does something that exaggerates it even more, he can have troubles. Curing it might be as simple as one little feel or it might involve more work, but the fact that some writer thinks it's a quick fix doesn't mean it isn't... and it doesn't mean that his swing is not the root cause.

Everyone compensates. If his hands are going out more to start his backswing, he'll likely over-compensate the depth they gain in transition and he'll swing even MORE OUTward.

[Chas]

My theory is simple.  He slacked off during the off season, and as we all know, when you don't work on your game (especially at the PGA Tour level), you get exposed.... quickly.  Now he is playing catch up in the middle of a season that is well into being started.

Apparently this is what his coach said, according to a recent statement, more or less. Too much time with Nike people working on the new clubs, gets out of form in the off season, then as you say gets humiliated on the tour when faults are exposed. In a way we all know the feeling, just a few orders of magnitude lower down the order. :) No, they aren't gods even tho' they seem a bit like them when you watch up close on the range before teeing off.

[clarkeycats]

I'm sure the Nike PR team will have a nice speech for him to give tomorrow at the press conference. Just hope he has a decent score at the weekend so we can move on.

[Vermeer]

Originally Posted by saturday

You know, I understand the backlash towards Rory for walking off but I have a real hard time being negative towards him. I think of it this way, he's definitely the best golfer in the world right now, no doubt there - but all that pressure is HUGE! At the end of the day he's a human like all of us. He just happens to have critics detaching every move and decision he makes. He seems like a very down to earth and relaxed guy, making him less of a celebrity and more comparable to an average person. Sadly I think he's a victim of the celebrity world and the pressure they put on athletes.

I know it comes with the territory, but I still feel bad for him.

Good post.

Yes, wrong to walk off, but Rory has always been upfront with the media saying what he really feels.

Hope he comes thro' this bad patch.

[MSchott]

Originally Posted by Mr. Desmond

I guess this is why I cal bs on his poor swing -- it's something that apparently can be cured in a couple of range sessions. Was he working on it beforehand? Doesn't he have a coach? Does someone have video from the Honda?

At least one writer says he recognizes the issue:

"There’s nothing wrong with Rory (or his equipment) that a small swing fix can’t correct. Rory is starting his takeaway by picking the club straight up and out, outside his intended swing path. (That’ll be $200, please. I take checks or PayPal.)"

Read more: http://www.golf.com/tour-and-news/simple-fix-rory-mcilroys-swing-problems#ixzz2MgwCEaYG

"Rory ought to be able to straighten that out in a few range sessions and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him somewhat back in form this week at Doral. Now whether he can adjust to the flight of his new irons and his new ball enough to make a slew of birdies, that’s another story. But Step 1 in Rory’s world right now is to get his swing back in order. Step 2 is adjusting to his new clubs and ball. The Honda was a jump in the wrong direction for him but on the panic scale, I’d put him only at DefCon 4, ticked up only slightly from DefCon 5, the base line. Nothing to worry about yet. Nothing to see here people—move along, please."

Read more: http://www.golf.com/tour-and-news/simple-fix-rory-mcilroys-swing-problems#ixzz2Mgw29EsR

I don't think I'd take the word of a sports writer as gospel on how to fix McIlroy's swing. I doubt there's anything seriously wrong, the kid is uber talented and will be back to his old self soon enough.

[newtogolf]

I'm glad Rory owned his poor decision and came clean that it was as much his poor play as it was pain from the tooth.

I'm not a pro or a teacher but it makes sense that if you groove in the wrong thing you have to work at getting the right movements back and that may take time.  It also feeds into the theory that he didn't dedicate as much time to practice during the off season as he should have.

I guess we'll see in a few days.  Tiger must be loving this, as he didn't play very well last week and I've hardly read or heard anything about it.

[Chas]

I want to see an interview and hear him talk about it in depth.