‘The drugs are working wonders’ - McIlroy optimistic on Players
Rory McIlroy will wait until just before his tee time to decide if he will defend his title at The Players but he’s sure he can’t make the injury worse as the Masters approaches.
The world number two arrived at TPC Sawgrass just after midday and hit balls on the range before addressing the media and heading out to walk nine holes.
“It's better,” he said of the back twinge that caused him to withdraw before his third round at the Arnold Palmer Invitational last Saturday.
“It’s better than it was. I hit up until a 6-iron on the range there and it felt okay.”
He’s not scheduled to tee it up with Xander Schauffele and Hideki Matsuyama until 1:42 pm local time (5:42 Irish time) in a $25m event that also features Shane Lowry and Séamus Power.
“I've got about, I don't know, is it 20 hours until I tee off, or until I'm supposed to tee off tomorrow,” he said.
“So, yeah, we'll see. I'm taking it sort of hour by hour. But it feels better.
“That's all I can say. Like, I couldn't stand to address the ball on Saturday morning on the range at Bay Hill, and it's obviously better than that.
“So yeah, probably a game-time decision, but all indications are pointing in the right direction, so hopefully good night tonight.
“The drugs are working wonders, and then just keep it going from there.”
McIlroy is bidding to join Jack Nicklaus in an exclusive club by winning the title for the third time since 2019 and he does not believe that he risks aggravating the injury by playing.
“It’s not structural, it's not joint, it's fine,” he said. “It's purely muscular sort of discomfort and fatigue. Obviously, I'll listen to the professionals.
"But there's nothing that I can do that's going to harm that.
“Like what triggered this, it was a hinge pattern in the gym, and I just overextended a little bit this way, but even doing this now is way easier, and I couldn't do that a couple of days ago.
“So things are getting better, but yeah, I don't think it's something where if I play, I'm at risk of doing any damage.”
McIlroy was not concerned about teeing it up without a practice round or potentially being forced to use the driver sparingly.
“I've been playing here since 2009, so it's not like I don't know the place,” he said with a grin.
“We're going to go walk nine holes now with a wedge and a putter just so I can get a feel for the rough around the greens and how firm the greens are.
“It seems like a pretty different setup this year than what it's been in previous years in March.
“So I would much rather do sort of short game and putting on the course rather than on the practice area, just get a better feel for the shots that you need.”
On the driver, he added: “The nice thing is you don't really need a driver around here that much, especially with how firm it is. But, yeah, obviously getting into the longer clubs is something that I'm going to have to try to do tomorrow.
“But as I said, I hit up until 6-iron there and it felt okay.”
It’s not the first time he’s suffered this injury and he hopes it eases out as the week progresses.
“I had this (injury) at the Tour Championship in 2023, and I remember like Thursday I was in so much discomfort and, like, chipping it around and got through the round,” he said.
“And I remember on Sunday I felt like a whole new person. So I'm hoping that it starts to progress like that.
“It's not even in the back. It's more just the muscles around the glutes and the hip flexors and that’s all just a little tight and a little angry.”
As for the PGA Tour’s plans to overhaul its competitive structure, starting next year, he was positive about potential changes outlined by CEO Brian Rolapp.
The Tour hopes to double the number of elevated events from 8 to 16, overhaul the Playoffs (potentially introducing matchplay) and introduce a promotion-relegation system that would give the tour’s middle class access to the top events, which will have 120-man fields and a halfway cut.
“I was supposed to meet with Brian on Monday night up here, so I spoke to him for about an hour on the phone on Monday,” McIlroy said. “So he just sort of took me through everything that he was going to say to you guys today.
“I think it's all pretty positive. I think he's got into this job and realised how difficult it is to turn this big ship around, and there's a lot of cooks in the kitchen and a lot of opinions.
“So he's obviously navigating that. But, yeah, I think what he said today was -- it's obviously a really good direction of where the Tour should be going, I think.”
