McIlroy learns from Honda crash

As Tiger Woods did no more than chip and putt his way around the new Blue Monster layout yesterday to keep the pressure off his ailing back, Rory McIlroy assessed the pain of his Honda Classic collapse and the steps he’s taken to avoid serious injury in the future.

Speaking ahead of the WGC-Cadillac Championship at the revamped Trump National Doral, the Holywood star explained that apart from serious gym work to strengthen his once weak lower back, he’s banned himself from playing football with his pals.

Revealing how he’d secretly sprained his ankle playing football in Holywood on December 23, he said: “I was off my ankle for about a week over New Year’s. But apart from that, I feel healthy, again, touch wood.

“It wasn’t a worry. It was a worry, I went over on it, and I went to net [in goal] and I shouldn’t have gone to net [in goal] either. I was standing up about half an hour and it really hurt. It was fine. I stayed off it for a week and it was okay.”

Sunday’s Honda Classic was far more painful for McIlroy, who admitted he gets too “emotionally attached” to how he plays the game and had a tendency to get down on himself “very easily”.

But what annoyed him most about his closing 74 in Palm Beach Gardens was the way he played coming down the stretch, dumping a fairway bunker shot in a lake at the 16th to lose to lead and then bogeying the next.

“It obviously wasn’t what I would have liked but there were plenty of positives because it was my third strokeplay event of the year, and third chance to win,” he said.

“If you keep giving yourself those chances, then hopefully learn from the mistakes, then you’re going to eventually walk through the door and win. And then when you get into the habit of it, it becomes a bit easier.”

What made Sunday easier to swallow was that sensational 245-yard five wood to the 18th that gave him an 11-foot eagle putt for the title that he eventually missed.

“It’s probably up there with the best [shots] that I’ve hit under pressure,” he said. “I don’t think I can think of any other ones where I’ve needed it and been able to pull it off like that.

“I was just disappointed with how I played coming down the stretch. It obviously wasn’t what I would have liked.”

The world No 6 insists he’s not disappointed when he doesn’t win every week but like Woods, he wants to contend every time.

As for questions over his ability under pressure, he admitted that he simply didn’t commit to his shots last Sunday and struggled to cut the ball into the wind.

He said: “I haven’t watched it back at all but I had a really good practice session yesterday just working on the shot that I struggled with coming down the stretch, which was just that little hold-up shot.”

As for Woods, the 38-year-old could lose his world No 1 ranking to Adam Scott, who will join him and world No 3 Henrik Stenson for the first two rounds, if he finishes outside the top seven and the Australian wins the tournament.

The 14-time major winner hasn’t been able to hit full shots since back spasms forced him to withdraw after 13 holes on Sunday and Woods conceded he will have to carefully consider how the injury will impact his career going forward.

“I think we have to take a more global look at it, absolutely, because it comes and goes,” Woods said.

“We’ve got to make sure that we do preventative things to make sure that it doesn’t happen and adjust certain things, whether it’s swing, lifting, whatever it may be, you have to make certain adjustments. We’ve done that throughout my entire career and this is no different.”

Unable to hit more than a few shots no more than 60 yards so far this week, his withdrawal at the Honda Classic has set off alarm bells about his Masters preparation and his career going forward.

“A bad back is something that is no joke,” he said. “I’ve learned it as I’ve aged, I don’t quite heal as fast as I used to. I just don’t bounce back like I used to. That’s just part of aging.

“There’s times that watching my kids run around, I wish I could do that again. They just bounce right up and their bruises are gone in a day. It’s just not that way anymore.”

McIlroy is joined in Miami by Graeme McDowell who found the new Blue Monster a tough test that’s longer than ever but should still suit his game.