PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — The weather on Wednesday at PGA National, the site of this week’s Honda Classic, began with sunny skies and docile winds. By midday, clouds engulfed the massive resort property and the wind freshened. And by late afternoon, thunderstorms with tornado warnings rattled the area with high winds and heavy rain.
Rory McIlroy’s performance in seven career starts at the Honda Classic, which begins Thursday, mirrors the turbulent twists and turns in Wednesday’s weather in that it can be best described as volatile.
McIlroy experienced a coming-of-age moment in 2012 when he won the tournament and elevated to No. 1 in the world for the first time, staving off a furious final-round 62 by Tiger Woods along the way.
A year later, while defending his title and No. 1 world ranking, McIlroy authored an embarrassing act-your-age moment.
Frustrated with his struggling game — 7-over par on his first eight holes — he quit on the ninth hole of his second round, marched directly to his car and drove off after telling the couple of reporters who tailed him to the parking lot: “There’s not really much I can say, guys. I’m not in a good place mentally, you know?’’
An hour later, his publicist issued a statement claiming that McIlroy quit because of a toothache.
McIlroy quit that day because he was embarrassed by his play and was having trouble figuring out how to his hit new Nike golf clubs, which he had switched to for millions of dollars after ascending to No. 1.
The following year, in 2014, McIlroy had another forgettable Honda Classic, losing in a playoff after holding the 54-hole lead with a final-round 74 that was marred by a double bogey on 16 and a bogey on 17.
Last year, he missed the cut by three shots.
What could be in store this week for McIlroy at his love-hate venue, which is located a mere 10-minute drive from his Palm Beach Gardens home?
McIlroy, ranked No. 3 in the world, is seeking his first win of the season. He was in position last week at the Northern Trust Open at Riviera, where he eagled the first hole of the final round only to tumble from contention with a sloppy 75.
When he was asked a softball question on Wednesday about his “ups and downs’’ in the Honda Classic and whether it’s “the nature’’ of the “tough course’’ or the “wind,” McIlroy delivered the perfect response when he said with a laugh: “I think it’s the nature of me.’’
Indeed, unlike the steady, consistent relentlessness of Woods when he was in the throes of his dominance, McIlroy has a little Phil Mickelson in him — when he’s on he’s better than anyone else in the world, and when he’s off, he can look like a weekend 20-handicapper at the local muni.
“You always want to win,’’ McIlroy said. “Progress is winning and seeing how you perform under pressure. But at the same time, progress is how you’re feeling with your game, if you feel like you can see improvements. I guess for me at the minute, progress is results-based, because I feel like I’m playing well. I feel like my game is in good shape. So it’s going out there and doing it when it matters.’’
McIlroy will be trying to channel his 2012 self this week, win again and chase that No. 1 ranking that’s owned by Jordan Spieth, who turned professional at age 19 when McIlroy seized No. 1 for the first time.
“When I won here in 2012, all the talk for me was trying to get to No. 1 in the world,’’ McIlroy said. “It was a week for me [when] I didn’t think about anything else but winning, because that’s what I wanted to achieve. Getting to world No. 1 was a byproduct of winning the tournament, but I was so focused on that that I didn’t think about anything else. Mentally, I was prepared to win and that’s what I was going to do.
“It was probably one of my better Sunday performances coming down the stretch with a few guys [namely Woods, his boyhood idol whom he stared down for the first time] putting pressure on me. There’s a few moments in my career that I feel like to this point, I’ll always remember and getting to No. 1 for the first time here I’ll certainly remember.’’