Rory McIlroy endured a turbulent week at The Players Championship, which derailed any hope of him retaining his title at TPC Sawgrass.
The Masters champion withdrew from the Arnold Palmer Invitational due to back problems, which then plagued him throughout the week leading up to The Players. McIlroy arrived late to TPC Sawgrass and wasn’t able to play a practice round before the event.
And when he finally took to the course on Thursday, it showed. McIlroy was never able to generate any momentum throughout the week, and while he just snuck in over the cut line, the Northern Irishman finished T46 at even par.
With The Masters just three weeks away, there was much speculation as to whether we would see McIlroy in action at all before Augusta National. But judging by his schedule immediately after The Players, there should be few concerns about his health.
Rory McIlroy to play TGL just two days after The Players
Rory McIlroy was asked if he planned to play in his upcoming TGL event at The Players, and he answered, “we’ll see”. He said he hadn’t even considered it yet.
But with his Boston Common Golf in the TGL playoffs for the first time, McIlroy is indeed teeing off in the indoor simulator league. That can only be a really positive sign for McIlroy’s health in the build-up to The Masters.
While he is clearly invested in TGL as a co-founder, and this is the beginning of the league’s postseason, it’s unlikely he would risk his health for the event, especially at this stage of the PGA Tour season.
He downplayed the impact of his back injury on his performance at The Players throughout the week, but now we can be almost completely confident that this will not be an issue moving forward.
What Rory McIlroy said about playing at The Masters after back troubles at The Players
This is an important week for McIlroy when it comes to deciding his Masters future, which was in doubt after the final round of The Players. The Career Grand Slam winner was asked if he expected the injury to impact the first major of the season, and his answer was inconclusive.
He said, “I’ll see. I haven’t really made a decision either way. I’ll see how my body feels. We’ll see how I feel in practice and at home, and if I get itchy feet at home, maybe add an event at some point.
“I feel like it was important to make the weekend here and play an extra couple of days. But yeah, really just see how the next week goes, see how once I get back to actually a full practice schedule and in the gym and stuff like that, see how my body reacts to that, and then I’ll see.”
The first major step is TGL, so it’s an incredibly positive sign that he’s teeing off this week.
