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Rory McIlroy suffered a back injury at the Arnold Palmer Invitational – one that forced him to withdraw at Bay Hill. McIlroy’s back issue has clearly affected him this week at The Players Championship, and he’s sitting in a tie for 57th with one round remaining at TPC Sawgrass.
Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images Rory McIlroy suffered a back injury at the Arnold Palmer Invitational – one that forced him to withdraw at Bay Hill. McIlroy’s back issue has clearly affected him this week at The Players Championship, and he’s sitting in a tie for 57th with one round remaining at TPC Sawgrass.
The 36-year-old from Northern Ireland definitely hasn’t had his best stuff in Ponte Vedra Beach this week and everything has looked like a real struggle for him. McIlroy never got started in his first round of The Players Championship and he has been unable to string together a sustained run of pars and birdies throughout all three days at TPC Sawgrass so far. Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images After his first round, McIlroy admitted his game felt ‘unbelievably rusty’ at The Players Championship .
That’s hardly a surprise given the fact that he didn’t turn up to Sawgrass until the day before the tournament started. Rory McIlroy responds to ‘preposterous’ suggestions about his back injury The five-time major champion didn’t play a practice round and only managed to hit up to a 6-iron on the driving range on Wednesday. Although he said his back felt fine, he obviously hasn’t been at his explosive best in Ponte Vedra Beach this week.
McIlroy isn’t the only one who has been struggling with back injuries recently. Collin Morikawa was forced to withdraw from The Players after just one hole of his first round, while Sahith Theegala, Billy Horschel and Justin Thomas have all experienced back problems recently as well. It has been suggested that it is no coincidence that players competing regularly in TGL are the ones who are suffering with back injuries.