Rory McIlroy may only be 23 years old, but the kid from Northern Ireland is already on top of the world. He recently signed a deal with Nike that is worth more than $200 million and is widely considered to be the best golfer on the planet. However, 23-year-old golfers have some problems that veterans like Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson likely do not have to deal with.
After getting off to a 7-over par start through nine holes of his round at the Honda Classic on Friday, McIlroy walked off the course. The reason? His wisdom tooth was bothering him.
“I sincerely apologize,” McIlroy said in a statement. “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.”
As much as I hate to do this, I feel it’s appropriate: #YoungPeopleProblems.
I had all of my wisdom teeth taken out when I was about 17, so I can relate to how much pain they can cause when they need to be removed. The bizarre part about the whole thing with McIlroy is that he gave reporters a very vague answer when he walked to the parking lot after calling it quits.
“I’m not in a great place mentally,” he said. “I can’t really say much, guys. I’m just in a bad place mentally.”
PGA rules allow a player to leave with an injury, so I’m not sure why McIlroy felt he couldn’t tell reporters his reason for withdrawing at that moment. In any event, Rory’s injury serves as a friendly reminder that weird injuries like the ones on our ever-growing list can even happen outside the baseball diamond.
Photo Credit: Kyle Terada-US PRESSWIRE
