Rory McIlroy spun a 2-under-par 38-32=70 in the final round of THE PLAYERS to share eighth at 7-under 281.
McIlroy never really contended after an opening-round 66, but did manage to sneak out of TPC Sawgrass with his fourth top 10 of the year. He did most of his damage on the back nine, circling four birdies on a five-hole span beginning with the par-3 13th.

Rory McIlroy crafted a bogey-free, 6-under-par 31-35=66 in his opening round of THE PLAYERS, finishing three strokes adrift of the clubhouse lead.
McIlroy is 0-for-3 at TPC Sawgrass, but that the 24-year-old is making his fourth appearance already is impressive. He hit 15 greens at TPC Sawgrass today and rolled in six birdies. His longest conversion measured 14'5" at the 16th hole. It was one of five on his opening nine (holes 10-18).

Rory McIlroy leaves Quail Hollow with a 1-over-par 34-39=73 in the final round and a 4-under 284 final tally.
McIlroy looked like the man to beat when he brushed in a birdie on the seventh hole to go 2-under for his round and pull within one of the lead in real time, but a back-nine collapse ended his hopes at victory. It started with a poor tee shot at the difficult par-4 12th and an aggressive par attempt that led to a double bogey. He followed that with a bogey on the par-3 13th, taking his round from 2-under and in contention to 1-over and out of it in the span of two holes. He added a birdie on the 16th, but gave it back with a messy bogey on the 18th. He heads to TPC Sawgrass still searching for his first win of 2013.

Rory McIlroy settled for a 1-over-par 36-37=73 in the third round of the Wells Fargo Championship, dropping to 5-under 211.
McIlroy, celebrating his 24th birthday as he strolled the fairways of Quail Hollow, could not get the flat stick to cooperate. He missed putts from 2'4" on three, 5'4" on five, 6'9" on eight, 2'10" on nine, 5'3" on 11, 4'11" on 12, 5'4" on 14 and 4'7" on 15. That adds up to four birdie efforts, three par tries and an attempted bogey save from inside seven feet that failed to find their home. Should he have saved those eight strokes, he would be in the lead. As it stands, he is three off the lead and inside the top 10 at the time of his posting. He will try and go low in an effort to nab his second Wells Fargo Championship title on Sunday morning.

Rory McIlroy fired a final-round 3-under-par 35-34=69 at the Masters, ending the week at 2-over 290.
Coming off a runner-up finish at the Valero Texas Open, McIlroy had high hopes entering the week. He was 2-under at the 36-hole mark, but a third-round 79 ended any chances he had to contend. In the finale, he circled four birdies to just one bogey to close out his week at Augusta National.

Rory McIlroy chased his opening 72 at the Masters with a 2-under-par 36-34=70 to reach the midpoint in 2-under 142, three strokes adrift of the 36-hole clubhouse lead.
McIlroy hit only eight greens in regulation today but limited the damage to three bogeys. Elsewhere, after an eagle at the par-5 eighth hole, he circled birdies at 13, 14 and 18. The 23-year-old required only 24 putts to get around Augusta National in his second round.

Rory McIlroy settled for an even-par 34-38=72 in his opening round of the Masters.
The Ulsterman hit 14 greens at Augusta National today, yet swallowed five bogeys to erase five birdies. He took 32 putts. He carded three of his bogeys immediately after circling a birdie, so he never gained any momentum from the par breakers. He's six strokes back of the clubhouse co-leaders.

Rory McIlroy didn't win the Valero Texas Open, but his final-round 6-under-par 33-33=66 was good enough for a runner-up finish at 12-under 276.
McIlroy blitzed TPC San Antonio with all he had, circling eight birdies and giving back just two bogeys in his final lap. Entering the day, it looked like his main priority would be catching Billy Horschel. He was able to do that, but unable to track down a sizzling Martin Laird. Plenty has been said and written about the Ulsterman ahead of the season's first major, but it now seems all systems are go for the Masters.

Rory McIlroy threatened to do more, but managed a 1-under-par 35-36=71 in the third round of the Valero Texas Open to improve to 6-under 210.
With birdies from 4'1" and 3'9" on the first and third holes, he looked to be dialed in to take it deep. It wasn't meant to be, as he often found himself on just the wrong side of some severe slopes on the greens of TPC San Antonio. In all, he would circle four birdies and swallow two bogeys. He will have several late missed opportunities to consider when he lays his head to rest tonight. He hit the longest drive of the day in the fairway at the par-4 17th, but only hit his 65-yard approach to 40'10" and settled for par. He next was in a greenside bunker in two on the par-5 18th, but left himself a 31'10" birdie attempt from the wrong level of the green that he would miss. While his game is looking closer to being Masters ready, he will have plenty of work to do in the finale if he hopes to hoist the trophy in this event.

Rory McIlroy signed for an even-par 35-37=72 following his opening round of the Valero Texas Open.
Even par at TPC San Antonio is better than OK, but it's below the expectations for the former No. 1 golfer in the world. He landed 13 greens in regulation and rolled in four birdies, but his longest conversion of the round was a par save from 17'10" at the 15th hole. He also rinsed his approach en route to bogey at the par-5 18th and missed par saves inside six feet and 1 and 9.

Rory McIlroy settled for a 1-over-par 39-34=73 in his opening round of the Shell Houston Open.
Well, whatever mojo he found in his final round at Doral three weeks ago didn't make the trip to Texas. He hit just 11 greens in regulation and erased four bogeys with three bogeys and a double (on a par 5). The only putt inside 10 feet that he missed measured 7'5" for par at 17.

Rory McIlroy blitzed TPC Blue Monster at Doral for a bogey-free 7-under-par 33-32=65, finishing the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship at 10-under 278 with a chance to crack the top 10.
With his back against the wall entering this week from a number of angles, McIlroy responded with five birdies and an eagle in his final lap around Doral. He got things going with an eagle from 18'2" on the opening par 5 and never looked back. He added a 14'9" birdie on the fifth hole, but his remaining four birdies all came from inside 10 feet. When asked about the state of his game by Steve Sands on the NBC live telecast following his round, he responded that "there's been significant improvement." He is not in the field for the Tampa Bay Championship, and is widely expected to compete again at the Shell Houston Open.

Rory McIlroy settled for a 1-over-par 38-35=73 in his opening round of the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship.
It's been quite a week for the 23-year-old Ulsterman. He apologized for walking off PGA National last Friday after citing pain due to a wisdom tooth. Few bought the explanation and took him to task. He obliged and turned the page. However, his scorecard doesn't reflect it just yet. McIlroy hit just 11 greens today and swallowed six bogeys. He missed four putts from inside 10 feet, including a 32-inch par attempt at the fourth hole. His only highlight was an eagle hole-out from five yards off the green at 1.

About an hour after withdrawing from The Honda Classic, Rory McIlroy released a statement to the media to explain why he walked off the 18th hole (his ninth of the day) during his second round.
"I sincerely apologize to The Honda Classic and PGA TOUR for my sudden withdrawal," McIlroy said. "I have been suffering with a sore wisdom tooth, which is due to come out in the near future. It began bothering me again last night, so I relieved it with Advil. It was very painful again this morning, and I was simply unable to concentrate. It was really bothering me and had begun to affect my playing partners. I came here with every intention of defending my Honda Classic title. Even though my results haven't revealed it, I really felt like I was rounding a corner. This is one of my favorite tournaments of the year and I regret having to make the decision to withdraw, but it was one I had to make." Until he calms our concern later, his appearance in next week's World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship deserves a question mark.

Rory McIlroy withdrew from The Honda Classic while playing his ninth hole of the second round.
According to multiple reports, he sent his approach into the green at the par-5 18th hole into the water, and then walked off. He didn't offer an explanation. The world's top-ranked golfer was 7-over-par through eight holes. Doug Ferguson of the Associated Press tweeted shortly thereafter: "McIlroy walks off course at Honda and says he's not mentally there. But not sure what that means yet."

Rory McIlroy opened his title defense of The Honda Classic with an even-par 35-35=70, six strokes higher than the clubhouse lead.
Today marked McIlroy's first round in a stroke-play competition since the second round in Abu Dhabi in mid-January. He hit 12 greens at PGA National today but converted only two birdies, the second of which measuring 21'8" at the 14th hole. Alas, he failed to hole a par save from 7'6" at the par-5 18th that would have secured a red number.

Rory McIlroy is back to defend his 2012 victory at The Honda Classic.
You will remember that McIlroy picked up his first PGA TOUR win of 2012 last year at PGA National by holding off a hard-charging Tiger Woods and Tom Gillis. The landscape around McIlroy is a little different this time around. He failed to notch a cut in his only stroke-play event overseas and was ousted by Shane Lowry in the opener at the WGC-Accenture Match Play. His doubters tend to point to his move from Titleist to Nike equipment as the reason for the early slump. While the merit of that is up for debate, what isn't is his need to put together a solid week and quiet the noise around his early play before his attention moves towards Augusta National. If you want to take a flier on him in some fantasy formats, proceed with caution. I would not recommend burning a one and done on him until he shows better form.

Rory McIlroy was beaten by 64-seed Shane Lowry 1 down in the Jones Bracket in the opening round of the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship.
The Irishmen halved only seven of the 18 holes they played but neither held more than a 2-up lead at any point. McIlroy's last advantage disappeared when Lowry won the par-4 10th hole with a par. Lowry, who is making his debut in this event, then sent a message with a birdie-eagle run at holes 12 and 13 to stake his 2-up margin. McIlroy split it in half with a par-4 at 14th but then conceded the 15th. A birdie-3 by McIlroy at 16 again reduced Lowry's lead to 1-up, but matching pars at 17 and 18 sealed McIlroy's fate. Lowry advances to Friday's second round to face the winner of Rickie Fowler v. Carl Pettersson.

Rory McIlroy followed his opening 3-over-par 75 at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship with another in his second round to miss the cut by four strokes.
All you really need to know here is that he hit 23 greens in regulation and still required 61 putts. He reportedly changed putters for the second round, but it didn't matter on the scorecard. "I just felt the greens I have been practising on were much faster," he said afterwards. "It was just a weight issue. I've got four weeks to work on it. I knew it was going to be a tough week. I hit the ball really well in Dubai last week, but it just got worse for some reason. I'm very disappointed. You never want to get off to a poor start, but I've got to realise it's only the start of the season."

Rory McIlroy stumbled his way to a 3-over-par 37-38=75 in his opening round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.
McIlroy had most of the crosshairs on him today since it marked his first round with Nike equipment throughout his bag. In challenging conditions, he hit 12 greens in regulation but rolled in only two birdies. He'd erase them with a bogey and two doubles. The 75 is his worst round of 21 in six appearances at Abu Dhabi Golf Club. His scoring average on the course in his first 20 rounds was 68.45, and he's finished inside the top five on the leaderboard in each of his last four starts.