Rory McIlroy has vowed to take a break from social media following a heated Twitter exchange with former PGA Tour Professional, Steve Elkington.After a disappointing US Open whereby McIlroy missed the cut by four strokes, Elkington launched an attack on the Northern Irishman claiming he was "bored" on the golf course after banking extreme amounts of money at such a young age.McIlroy was clearly angered by Elkington's comments, and he responded by dismissing the Australian's claims.However, this exchange has evidently had an effect on the four-time-major winner, and he has since expressed regret about how he reacted to the incident.Speaking at his press conference for this week's Irish Open, the 28-year-old said: "I sort of regret sending it at the end but I actually gave my wife, Erica, my phone and my Twitter and told her: 'Change my password to something else and don't tell me what it is'."

"So as of the time being, I'm off social media just because of that reason. I don't need to read it. It's stuff that shouldn't get to you and sometimes it does."

"It's not what was said, it was who said it. Anyone that's been in that environment should realise how hard golf is at times, and I think that's the thing that got to me more than anything else."

McIlroy will now look to do his golf do the talking at this week's Dubai Duty Free Irish Open at Portstewart, where he is the tournament host for the third year running.

He goes into this week not only as the host but also as the defending champion, having prevailed at the event last year with a three-stroke victory over Scotsman Russell Knox and Welshman Bradley Dredge.

But will he thrive at this year's event and beyond having freed himself from the distractions of Social Media?