In 2012 Rory McIlroy won the PGA Championship, two events in the FedEx Cup playoffs and the money titles on both the PGA and European Tours. He also shot up to No. 1 on the Official World Golf Rankings and it appeared he was set to assume Tiger Woods role as the leading man of golf.

It would have been a very difficult task for anyone to follow up his great performance in 2012 with another in 2013.

In the 2012 offseason McIlroy inked a new endorsement deal with Nike worth millions and the formal announcement was made in Abu Dhabi. After the smoke had cleared from the show, he shot 75-75 with the new equipment and failed to make the cut.

During the year two more missed cuts on the European Tour would follow. As the defending champion, he also withdrew from the Honda Classic on the PGA Tour in March during the second round, citing a sore tooth.

His best finish of the 2013 PGA Tour season was a runner-up at the Valero Texas Open. He failed to finish inside the Top 30 on either the PGA or European Tours and fell to No. 6 on the world rankings.

McIlroy did finish 2013 on somewhat of a high note.

After the PGA Tour season ended, he collected his second runner-up of the year in Korea. He bested Tiger Woods in an exhibition in China and won the Australian Open over Adam Scott.

He also finished strong in the European Tour’s Race to Dubai in November with a T-6 in the WGC-HSBC and T-5 in the DP World Championship in Dubai.

Distractions from off the golf course in addition to the equipment changes affected McIlroy last year. The equipment issue seems to be solved and his legal issues are getting sorted out.

He played the last few tournaments of 2013 with a smile and the swagger that we have come to expect from the 24 year old.

He has a lot of making up to do next year and will use it as motivation for a monster year.