Irish golfing phenom Rory McIlroy is to step back from golf for a few weeks in order to full heal his back and take a mental break from the game.

“I am just not myself at the moment and this is the sort of golf course that makes your mistakes look even worse when you are slightly off,” he said of his disappointing week at the Master, where he missed the cut and played poorly.

The 20-year-old, who is now ranked 12th in the world, feels he needs a bit of time away to clear his head.

“I don’t know what is going on, I just need to take a bit of a break and come back with a refreshed attitude.



“I am getting frustrated very easily and getting down on myself. I just think that I need to go home and get my head sorted.”

“I am supposed to play Quail Hollow (on the US Tour) in a couple of weeks, but I might need a bit more time to let this injury clear up and clear my head.

“Maybe I’ll come back at Wentworth (the European Tour’s flagship event on May 20-23) or something.



"We will see what happens. The back is okay. I can still feel it, but if I rest it then it will be fine."



McIlroy hinted that he was been putting too much pressure on himself.



“I just need to get back out on the course and enjoy it. It might be a struggle to keep the US Tour card, but I am not concerned about that at the moment.

“I don’t think this is due to the expectation on me.

"I have done all of these great things myself so a lot of that expectation is from myself.

“Maybe I just need to sit down and tell myself that I am only 20 years old and that things are actually going well for me.



“I have felt this down before – probably the summer of 2008 – but all it takes is one good week and you can be back up there.



“Sometimes I just think I need to get back to the way I was when I was a kid, just going out there and whacking it, finding it and whacking it again.”