Rory McIlroy opted to skip media duties following the second round of the Players Championship, instead heading straight to driving range after a frustrating one-over-par, 73 on Friday.
McIlroy headed into the second round tied at the top alongside Xander Schauffele at seven-under, but the 2019 champion failed to kick on following his quick start. His Friday 73 was not without drama, with the Northern Irishman trading birdies for bogeys through his four holes, in a chaotic start.
One of those bogeys came thanks to a bizarre encounter with a frog, which appeared to leap next to McIlroy's ball at the par-three third, leading to him stepping away from his stance before de-greening the following chip.
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The 34-year-old went on to play his final five holes in two-over-par to leave him eight shots behind leader Wyndham Clark heading into this weekend. Clearly in no mood to rest on his laurels, McIlroy decided not to take part in any post-round questioning and instead made his way to the range in a bid to re-find his swing on the back of his frustrations.
Despite having plenty of work to do, McIlroy is no stranger to chasing down a hefty weekend lead, winning the Dubai Desert Classic two months earlier after finding himself 10 shots behind going into the third round. In Dubai, the four-time major champion carded a superb nine-under 63 on moving day, and there is no doubt he will need something similar in Florida this week.
The signs on Thursday were good for McIlroy, who will be keen to find some form with the Masters less than one month away. A week earlier the Northern Irishman admitted he had some concerns with his iron play, after finishing in a tie for 21st at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
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"It's sort of been the same story for the last few weeks, struggling with a left miss with the irons," he said at Bay Hill last Sunday. "It's hard because the longer clubs, the woods, feel so good but the irons don't feel that good. I feel like I'm having to put two differing swings on the woods and the irons at the minute, which is a struggle."
He did however look back to his best four days later at TPC Sawgrass, and admitted he felt much more comfortable with an iron in hand. McIlroy said Thursday: "It's probably been one of my best days in a while, which is really nice. The feeling is good with the irons, and the feeling with the driver and the three wood is just a little bit different.
"But as long as I remind myself on the tee box that okay, this is a wood, and I get on the fairway, and this is an iron, and I've got two different feels and two different thoughts, then it's okay. Yeah, much, much improved on the approach play today, which was nice to see."
The stats were clear to see in Thursday's first round, with McIlroy hitting 15 out of 18 greens in a much improved performance. Old tendencies began to creep in on Friday though, finding the putting surface with his approach on just 11 occasions, piling plenty more pressure on his short game.