Rory McIlroy was all the focus at the Honda Classic on Friday despite not even making it through half his round, as he walked off the course suddenly while playing his ninth hole, citing pain from a wisdom tooth as too uncomfortable to play with.
McIlroy took some heat from the media and some other golfers after the move and originally said to reporters when he left that he was in a bad place mentally. Tiger Woods was able to make the cut after saving some shots at the end of his round and Luke Guthrie has the lead at nine under heading into weekend play.
Guthrie shot a seven-under 63 on Friday to take the lead and had seven birdies, including one on the tough sixth hole. McIlroy exited the tournament after shooting seven over through eight holes.
McIlroy, the world's number one golfer, is having a very slow start to the season, as he missed the cut at Abu Dhabi after shooting 75-75 and last week he was eliminated in the first round at the Match Play Championship.
Woods is moving up the leader board as Saturday action starts to heat up, with Guthrie teeing off at 1:40 PM ET. All the news was about McIlroy after the day was over, as he took some heat for leaving with his wisdom tooth pain.
McIlroy later tweeted: "Apologies to all at the Honda. A tough day made impossible by severe tooth pain. Was desperate to defend title but couldn't play on. Gutted."
Since McIlroy withdrew, he is now ineligible for the scoring title, which he won last year. Tiger Woods finished the day even after shooting an even-par 70 and he did it theatrically, as he had to wade into a water hazard to hit a shot, but he was able to save par on the hole after getting back onto the fairway.
Starting the day he was six strokes behind the leader but he is slowly pulling back up the board on Friday. Television coverage of the event goes over the weekend on Golf Channel from 1-3 p.m. ET and on NBC 3-6 p.m. ET.
CLICK HERE to follow live coverage of the Honda Classic from the PGA Tour website.
