McIlroy refutes rumors of Wozniacki breakup

• By Jay Coffin
• Mar 6, 2013 7:35 AM ET

DORAL, Fla. – Two off-course issues popped up Wednesday when Rory McIlroy apologized for his petulant walk-off last week at the Honda Classic.

One of the most prevalent thoughts regarding McIlroy’s poor performance surrounded his girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki, with rumors swirling that the two no longer are together.

Just a day before McIlroy’s WD at PGA National, Wozniacki lost in the Malaysian Open to a player ranked No. 186 in the world.

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“I’ve read what’s been written,” McIlroy said at Doral. “Just because I have a bad day on the golf course and Caroline loses a match in Malaysia, it doesn’t mean that we’re breaking up.

“Everything on that front is great and I’m looking forward to seeing her next week when she gets to Miami.”

The other oddity surrounds an #FTB hashtag that McIlroy has used twice in tweets sent from his Twitter account the last two days. The first was posted Tuesday and said, “For every complex problem, there is a simple solution. #FTB.”

Many of McIlroy’s Twitter followers wondered what that acronym stood for, until Irish singer Ronan Keating responded to McIlroy saying he loved the hashtag. It’s been reported that Keating has a tattoo on his left wrist that says “(expletive) the begrudgers.”

“It’s a little private joke between friends,” he said, “and something I probably can’t divulge on live TV.”