What's Happened to Rory McIlroy on His Way to Being Golf's Next Big Thing?

Rory McIlroy dominated the offseason headlines after an outstanding 2012 season and appeared poised to conquer the world as the planet's top-ranked player.

He came into the season after signing a major endorsement deal with Nike, riding the momentum from winning two majors the past two years and leading two tours in earnings.

But McIlroy, 24, missed the cut at Abu Dhabi to open the year, lost in the first round of the Accenture Match Play tournament and walked off the course at the Honda Classic because of “wisdom tooth pain."

Things haven’t gotten much better. Last week McIlroy missed the cut at the BMW PGA Championship, and Thursday at the Memorial he shot a 78—the worst opening round of his career.

So what has happened to McIlroy on the way to being golf’s Next Big Thing?

Did Problems Begin with Changing Equipment?

McIlroy announced in October that he would be changing equipment, putting his Titleist clubs in the closet. That's because Nike came calling. McIlroy signed a reported $200 million deal at the start of the year to endorse Nike equipment and apparel.

It may have made financial sense, but what would it mean to McIlroy's game? Nick Faldo, in comments on Golf Channel, was among those who questioned the decision.

“I call it dangerous,” said Faldo, who won six majors in his career. “I’ve changed clubs and changed equipment, and every manufacturer will say, ‘We can copy your clubs; we can tweak the golf ball so it fits you.’ But there’s feel and sound as well, and there’s confidence. You can’t put a real value on that. It’s priceless."

“You have to be very, very careful. You easily could go off and do this and it messes you up because it just doesn’t quite feel the same. When you’re striping it, it’s fine. But as soon as doubt comes in...”

McIlroy saw criticism coming, saying, "I knew it would happen if I didn't play well."

McIlroy has blamed poor play on his swing, not his equipment, but there's obviously been some question in his mind. Last week, he went back to his old putter for the BMW Championship.

Tiger Woods could have warned McIlroy about the challenges in changing equipment. He began swinging Nike clubs a decade ago, two years after switching to a Nike golf ball. Both changes took him some time to become accustomed to before he was completely comfortable with them on the course, although he went on to have tremendous years.

“Any time you make a change in equipment, it’s certainly a big deal,” Woods said in a story on PGATour.com. “Going through the testing process, trying to get the right shaft, and the club head, plus the ball, it’s a challenge.”

“Sometimes it’s taken almost a year, sometimes it’s taken just a few weeks," Woods said of the adjustment period, adding, “It’s a huge process to get to that point. It was very time consuming. It’s tiring quite frankly because it can take a long time, but it’s worth it in the end if you get it right.”

His Head is Not in the Game

There are poor shots and then there are poor sports.

McIlroy raised eyebrows when he walked off the course at the Honda Classic after he put his second shot in the water on the par-five 18th (his ninth) hole. He was seven-over at that point. The tooth pain excuse didn't fly with most observers, especially since he at first said something about not being mentally squared away. It was a hasty decision made in a moment of frustration, and McIlroy was heavily criticized for it.

He admitted his mistake and apologized shortly thereafter. In a Sports Illustrated story, he said: "What I did was not good for the tournament, not good for the kids and the fans who were out there watching me—it was not the right thing to do."

Had it not been for that incident, McIlroy likely wouldn't have nearly as much focus on his struggles.

Asked on Wednesday to assess the state of his game, McIlroy said: 

"

My game feels good. I feel like both Charlotte and TPC were good ball‑striking weeks. I hit the ball really good tee‑to‑green, I just didn't take advantage of the opportunities I was giving myself. But I spent two days with Dave Stockton here and worked on a few things and I feel like my putting is coming around a little bit...If I start knocking in a few putts, hopefully, I'll (start) contending a bit more.

"

McIlroy said the problem when he has missed shots this year is he has missed them badly.

"Last year, if I missed a fairway or missed a shot, it wasn't by much," he said. "This year it seems the misses have been big and have cost me. I'm thinking back to Augusta, third day, missed a couple of tee shots right on seven and 11, which sort of cost me on Saturday."

"Sometimes in golf it's not about how good your good shots are, it's about how, I guess, how much damage your bad shots do to you, and if you can sort of limit that as much as you can then it's always going to be a good thing."

Where Does He Go from Here?

Because of McIlroy's success the second half of last year, it's easy for people to forget that he had similar struggles a year ago. He missed back-to-back cuts in The Players Championship and the Memorial. He also missed the cut at the U.S. Open. All that was forgotten after his victory in the PGA Championship, where McIlroy won by a record eight strokes.

His struggles might not be so easily solved this time around.

After Thursday's 78 at the Memorial, a round in which he missed seven greens and required 33 putts, McIlroy needs to go low Friday to make the cut. Good luck with that. He's been erratic off the tee and, as noted, struggled upon reaching the green.

"The last four weeks have been the same," McIlroy said after his round. "I've missed a lot of short putts. It's probably lack of confidence more than anything else. And those are the sort of putts that are important to keep the momentum of the round going. And they're the putts that I'm not really making."

One example: McIlroy missed a four-foot birdie putt today on his last hole.

"That's sort of how it's been," McIlroy said. "The game just isn't all there at the minute. But I'm working hard and I'm trying to figure things out and hopefully they'll come around soon."

McIlroy is trying to remain optimistic, but it's obvious he is lost right now.

"A few bad rounds of golf isn't going to ruin anything," said McIlroy. "...But I don't really have many explanations for this."

McIlroy said he has not played at Merion Golf Club, the site of this year's U.S. Open. He plans to visit next week and play the course a couple of times. He may get an opportunity earlier than planned as he searches for answers to all the questions about his game.

Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained first-hand.