McIlroy taking no chances with back 'twinge'
Rory McIlroy tells Ryan Fox he’s pulling out at Bay Hill
Rory McIlroy will know in the coming days if the back twinge that forced him to withdraw from the Arnold Palmer Invitational will jeopardise his defence of The Players this week or the Masters at Augusta National next month.
The world number two withdrew from a PGA Tour event for the first time since 2013 when getting ready for the third round at Bay Hill on Saturday.
The injury did not appear to be serious, but rather than take a chance, McIlroy opted to head home for treatment.
“While warming up in the gym this morning, I felt a small twinge in my back,” he said in a statement.
“As I started hitting balls on the range before the round, it worsened and developed into muscle spasms in my lower back.
“Unfortunately, I’m not able to continue and have to withdraw.”
McIlroy’s manager, Sean O’Flaherty, said: “He’ll get treatment over the coming days and will know more then.”
The Co Down man has worked assiduously on his fitness and core strength for more than 15 years, after getting a wake-up call when he was 20.
“It got really bad at the start of 2010,” McIlroy said of the back problems that plagued him in his youth.
“I played in the Masters and missed the cut. The back really wasn’t feeling good. The doctor said to me, ‘Look, if you don’t start taking care of yourself or getting stronger, you can seriously jeopardise how long your career is’. That was a wake-up call for me.”
“You’ve got a guy that sees thousands of backs a year, and he’s telling you that if you don’t start looking after yourself, the career that you thought was going to last 30 years might only last 10.
"That’s a pretty scary proposition.”
McIlroy (36) works on his fitness with performance coach Ro Sharma, who was with him on the range at Bay Hill when he decided to pull out.
“I think not only has it helped with longevity, but it's also just helped my golf game in general,” McIlroy said of his fitness work.
“I think all the greatest athletes in sports have shown incredible longevity in their careers, and that's something that I'm continuing to try to do.”
McIlroy has yet to win this season, but the wait is over for Jon Rahm, who admitted it was “a big weight off my shoulder” when he ended his 18-month victory drought with a three-shot win at LIV Golf Hong Kong.
The two-time Major winner closed with a six-under 64 to win on 23-under at Hong Kong Golf Club from Belgium’s Thomas Detry.
“Very relieving,” said Rahm, who hadn’t won since claiming LIV Golf Chicago in September 2024.
“That's the only way I can describe it. I've been very ecstatic for wins in the past. This one just feels like a big weight off my shoulder. That's all I can say.”
The Spaniard is at loggerheads with the DP World Tour over unpaid fines, and his Ryder Cup future remains uncertain after he refused to accept a deal that eight LIV Golf players accepted.
As for his decision to organise a charter flight to rescue seven LIV Golf colleagues from the Middle East last week, as flights out of the UAE were grounded due to the war, he didn’t think his win was a result of good karma.
“It was never about karma," said Rahm, who won $4 million. “It was simply about luckily getting those boys out of a dangerous situation.”
Graeme McDowell shot 66 to finish tied for eighth on 14-under and win his first world rankings points since November 2025 and a cheque for $411,667.
Tom McKibbin slipped to 24th after a closing 71 but won $185,000 as Dustin Johnson’s 4Aces won the $3 million team title by six shots from McDowell’s Smash GC and by seven from Legion XIII.
In China, Leona Maguire closed with a 76 to finish tied for 18th on one under in the LPGA Blue Bay on Hainan Island.
The Co Cavan star, who worked with Tiger Woods’ former coach Sean Foley in the off-season, finished 10 strokes behind South Korea’s Mi Hyang Lee, who shot 73 to win her third LPGA title by a shot from China’s Weiwei Zhang.
LPGA rookie Lauren Walsh finished 75th on 16-over after a 76 while in the LET’s Australian Women's Classic in Sydney, Lahinch’s Aine Donegan tied for 32nd on three over, 16 shots behind Australia’s Kelsey Bennett, after a final round 76.
On the DP World Tour, England’s Dan Bradbury claimed his second Joburg Open title since 2022.
He birdied the 17th before making a chip-and-putt par at the 18th to shoot a five-under 65 and win by a shot on 17 under from South Africa’s Casey Jarvis and England’s Brandon Robinson Thompson.
