McIlroy refusing to panic

Rusty Rory McIlroy insists he’s not in panic mode about his new clubs as the clock ticks down to the Masters.

But Pádraig Harrington admits his confidence in his putting has taken a knock with just seven weeks to go before the opening major of the season.

With just three more events to get his game in shape for a tilt at a green jacket in April, McIlroy blamed his timing rather than his clubs for his poor iron play.

He said: “I’ve just been missing a lot of them right, just getting ahead of it.

“I think it’s more a timing thing than anything else. Everything else was actually pretty good out there.”

At least the new Nike driver that gave him so much trouble in Abu Dhabi appeared to behave itself this time.

“I felt like I drove the ball really well,” he said.

As for Harrington, the Dubliner three-putted twice and missed three times inside five feet in his first round defeat to Graeme McDowell.

Likely to fall out of the world’s top 50 and fail to qualify for Doral, he has two weeks off to work on it before playing three events before the Masters.

After missing a string of short putts in Tucson, Harrington said: “It’s very hard to play well when you are missing putts.

“My long game would be in better stead if I wasn’t putting so badly.”