After a tremendous 2012 season, Rory McIlroy came into 2013 ranked number 1 in the official world golf rankings.

In the offseason, McIlroy left Titleist and signed an endorsement deal with Nike which means that he also had to change equipment. In the transition over to Nike, McIlroy developed a close friendship with Tiger Woods, the former wold number 1.

He has not played well since.

Some people are attributing Rory’s sluggish start in 2013 to the equipment change but I think it is the friendship with Woods that has gotten into the young golfers head.

Another rumor swirling around is that Rory and girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki have hit quite the rough patch. The couple had a honeymoon year in 2012 when both athletes enjoyed success, and tweeted cute pictures about their respective world rankings. But 2013 has seemed to be a reality check as now there are mumblings that the two are close to splitting. I’m going to give Rory some credit and blame his shortcomings on Tiger getting in his head.

Yes, I will admit that changing equipment takes time. But, McIlroy hasn’t resembled anything of the golfer we saw dominate the 2012 PGA Championship, winning the final major of the year by 8 strokes. There is clearly something off about Rory’s game and it goes deeper than an equipment change.

The kid has the talent to become as dominant as Tiger was during the 2000s but seems to lack to competitive edge that Woods displayed all those years. I can’t remember Tiger being friends with many people on tour during his dominant stretch. When he would play with Phil Mickelson, his arch nemesis, the two would rarely speak to one another.

Hopefully Rory will figure something out before The Masters in April. Golf has become so exciting because of the budding rivalry between the two top ranked players in the world. For now, Rory remains on top of Tiger, but the start of 2013 has shown that Tiger is out to reclaim his throne atop the sport.

If i was Rory, I’d stop making friends.