Rory McIlroy: 'Missed cut was a kick in the backside'

Rory McIlroy will seek to complete a career grand slam at Augusta in April

World number one Rory McIlroy has described his missed cut at the Honda Classic as a "kick in the backside" which will do him no harm.

McIlroy was speaking in the build-up to the WGC-Cadillac Championship which starts at Doral, Miami, on Thursday.

The four-time major winner's 2015 PGA Tour debut lasted just two days after rounds of 73 and 74 at PGA National.

"Sometimes you need a little kick in the backside to make you realise what you need to do," said the 25-year-old.

"I was disappointed but I feel it has given me clarity on what I needed.

"I could have approached it two ways. I could have got really down on myself and wondered where that had come from, or thought 'this was the first event after a three-week break and there were things that needed to be sharper'.

"It was my mum's birthday on the Friday night so we went out for a nice dinner and then got back to work on Saturday."

Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy won his first Open at Hoylake last year

McIlroy admitted he struggled to play his usual controlled draw in the wind at the Honda Classic.

However, he appeared to have quickly ironed out the issue by shooting a 63 to win a pro-member event at Seminole Golf Club on Monday.

Following the Miami tournament, McIlroy will play in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, Orlando, before fully turning his attention to trying to complete the career grand slam at the Masters in April.

"There is always excitement and anticipation and hype surrounding Augusta and I feel it regardless of whether I am going in there as favourite or under the radar," the Ryder Cup star added.

"It is the first major of the year and really the start of the golfing season for the general public.

"Right now I am taking it week by week. After Bay Hill I will start to think about it more and every practice session will be looking ahead at the shots I need.

"I think the best way to go in is to have confidence but sometimes if you go in with low expectations that can help as well. If things were to go the right way at Augusta I would not care if I had gone in there with two wins or two missed cuts."

McIlroy can try to pick the brains of two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson at Doral after being paired with the world number two and third-ranked Henrik Stenson for the two opening days.