Ernie Els has admitted that he regrets not speaking to Rory McIlroy shortly before the Northern Irishman abandoned the Honda Classic midway through the second round.
McIlroy, who blamed a sore wisdom tooth for his decision to walk off the course, was playing with Els during the round, and the four-time major winner claims that he should have stopped the 23-year-old.
The South African said: "I must say, when I shook his hand on 18, I wanted to say something to him, but I didn't, and I kind of regret that.
"It was obviously a heat of the moment thing. He is who he is. You've got to respect what the individual at that moment is like, and he wanted to get off.
"And we obviously heard that his wisdom tooth was bothering him, and if that was the reason, that was that. I would have been out of my depth at that stage to say something to him if something was bothering him. So I didn't, but I thought I should have."
McIlroy has since conceded that he was wrong to leave the course.
Callum Mulvihill
