Even when Rory McIlroy says sorry he gets it wrong

By: Cormac Eklof | Published Friday, March 8, 2013, 12:32 PM | Updated Friday, March 8, 2013, 12:32 PM

Last weekend Rory McIlroy walked off the course of the Honda Classic golf tournament, and straight into a veritable blizzard of controversy. His decision to abandon ship after only 9 holes of the course was initially met with mouth-agape amazement from most corners, however that seemed to abate after a half-dressed story emerged that Rory was struggling with dental pain.

Most sporting media entities appear to be buying that line without question and Rory's apology, issued today, is being taken as a humble 'mea culpa' with most commentators advising us to move on and leave the young lad alone.

Wait one second now.

Sure we could all just sit back and accept this apology on face value.

“It was a reactive decision. What I should have done is take my drop, chip it on, try to make a five and play my hardest on the back nine, even if I shot 85. What I did was not good for the tournament, not good for the kids and the fans who were out there watching me – it was not the right thing to do.”

He's right there, it was not the right thing to do, not by a million John Daly drives it wasn't. However, is Rory still sticking by this ridiculous 'the dog ate my homework', dental story? If so, could he kindly explain to us why this photograph was taken one single shot before Rory abandoned ship, because of dental issues?



Just to clarify, yes, that is Rory horsing into a sambo, with a disdain for his own safety that Jason Bourne would wince at. How on earth are the media not making a bigger deal out of this? Are we seriously that muted, blind and sheep-like that we are going to take the dental issue story and pathetic subsequent apology on the back of pictures like the above and below?



Furthermore, could Rory perhaps also explain why he told three journalists immediately afterwards that his reasons to withdraw were not physical (we are going to assume dental equals physical).

Look, maybe there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for the above sambo orgy and subsequent garbled communications around whether it was physical pain or not that forced Rory to withdraw from the tournament. However, treating the public like morons like this, completely ignoring the fact we all saw the snaps of the pre final shot snack fest, ignoring the fact he told three journalists that he didn't withdraw because of physical pain, is just not right.

How are we supposed to believe a single thing that comes out of McIlroy's mouth, when even his apologies are about as accurate as Sarah Palin's global geographical grasp? Until McIlroy starts taking sports fans seriously, there is absolutely no reason for us to do likewise.


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