( CNN ) -- Rory McIlroy may be hoping to exorcise some demons when he returns to the scene of one of his career lows at this week 's Honda Classic in Florida . At last year 's tournament , the world No . 8 walked off the course in the middle of a dismal second round , blaming a sore wisdom tooth . McIlroy , who lost his number one ranking and took until December to win a tournament in a difficult 2013 season , described his Honda hiccup as the lowest point of the year . `` Probably The Honda back ( last ) February , '' McIlroy told PGATour.com , when asked for his low point . `` I made a mistake walking off the course and disappointed not just myself . `` Golf can be a frustrating game and emotionally tough . What 's important , though , is that I 've learned from that episode . I need to stay patient and play my way through the difficult patches . '' The Northern Ireland golfer also switched to Nike clubs in a multimillion-dollar deal at the start of last season and found the transition from his former Titleist equipment was n't quite as smooth as he would have liked . But he believes he has now quite literally got into the swing with his new equipment . `` It would be fantastic to be 100 % comfortable with all 14 clubs at the same time , '' McIlroy said . `` It was worth taking the time to get it right . I 'm pretty settled with the kit , to be honest . '' The tournament at the PGA National course will unite seven of the world 's top-10 players -- more than in any event of the season so far . It is also the first tournament of 2014 where the top three -- Tiger Woods , Adam Scott and Henrik Stenson -- have competed in the same field . However , U.S. Open champion Justin Rose had to drop out of the event at the last minute because of tendinitis in his right shoulder .
Rory McIlroy says his Honda Indy walk - off was low point of season . The world No . 8 says he 's trying to ` ` stay patient '' after what happened . McIlroy is one of seven top-10 players competing in Florida event . U.S. Open champion Justin Rose has pulled out with a back injury .