McIlroy decides to continue playing

RORY McILROY says he has decided not to take a break from golf and will compete at the US Tour event at Quail Hollow which runs from April 29th to May 2nd.

The 20-year-old had hinted that he might take some time out after missing the cut at the Masters last week.

“I was just off the golf course when I made those remarks and I maybe just overreacted a bit,” said McIlroy. “I wasn’t really thinking straight, having just missed the cut in a major for the first time.

“I have played six majors and that was the first cut I have missed, but I have got a couple of weeks off now before I go back to the States.

“I will put in some good work in the next couple of weeks and should be in the right frame of mind go to America and improve on my performances.

“I have the tournament at Quail Hollow, then the Players’ Championship, followed by the PGA Championship at Wentworth.

“I will hopefully be refreshed and ready to play some good golf, as I want to get back into the top-10 in the world.”

McIlroy described his week at the Masters as “pretty frustrating” after finishing seven over at Augusta: “I felt as if I played okay but didn’t get much out of the week.

“There were some positives to take from it as I did hit the ball a lot better than I had been doing for the last few weeks. I just need to sharpen up around the greens and get my scoring back to where it was at the end of last year.

“I know I have the game to contend at tournaments and it is just a matter of going out there and shooting the scores.

“I haven’t been doing that, and I’ll just have to go back to the drawing board.”

Meanwhile, American Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin is unconcerned by Tiger Woods’ inactivity this year after the world number one returned from his self-imposed exile with a top-10 finish at the Masters.

Woods finished tied for fourth at Augusta after five months out following his well-documented problems away from the course.

The 34-year-old has yet to indicate when he will next play after revealing he plans to take another break from golf, but will feature at the US Open in June.

“I was obviously glad to see him play again, but other things are way more important in his life,” said two-time Ryder Cup winner Pavin.

“He thought it was the right time to play again and I was delighted to see him play again and play well, and he moved into the top eight on our points list, which is a good thing.”