JOIN USGolf great Jack Nicklaus said on Sunday Rory McIlroy was wrong to walk off the course at the Honda Classic but said the world number one would be back to his best in time for the Masters next month.
McIlroy withdrew after eight holes of his second round on Friday, initially saying he was in a ‘bad place mentally’ and then later citing toothache.
“He shouldn’t have walked off the golf course. I think that was unfortunate, because if he had thought about it for five minutes, he wouldn’t have done it,” Nicklaus, who won a record 18 major titles, told the Golf Channel.
McIlroy has played just four full professional rounds in three months, missing the cut in the Abu Dhabi Championship in January and suffering a surprise first-round exit in the WGC-Accenture World Match Play Championship last week in Arizona.
Nicklaus said he suspected McIlroy’s rash decision was caused by the impact of that slow start.
“He’s a good kid, he’s a sharp kid and I just think he is so frustrated with what is happening and the way he has played for last month or so that it just got to him. “That would be my assessment. I may be speaking out of school. I really don’t know, I haven’t talked to him,” he added.