PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Rory McIlroy wasn’t entirely sure he would be able to play in The Players Championship after he was forced to withdraw from Bay Hill last Saturday due to muscle spasms in his lower back. Now, he’s grateful to have two more days to play at TPC Sawgrass.
But Friday required much more work than he had hoped. McIlroy, the defending champion and two-time winner of The Players, was approaching the final hole on the par-5 ninth hole and was over the expected cut line. He blasted a 310-yard drive, reaching the green in two and making a two-putt birdie for a 71.
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Satisfaction came only from making the cut.
“I’m happy to be here this weekend. I’m happy to get two more hits,” McIlroy said. “Going home this afternoon was the worst. So if we can hang out and hopefully play two more days, that’s a win.”
But this wasn’t just about qualifying, as it was his third birdie of the round in scoring conditions and his fourth of the tournament. McIlroy woke up feeling better in his back. He couldn’t wake up the putter.
Still, it was a clutch finish with a 1-over 145.
“I wish I could have gotten more up on the leaderboard. I felt like I played well enough to get on the leaderboard today, but I just couldn’t drop the putts,” he said.
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My back seems to be fine now. McIlroy expected it to be like the 2023 Tour Championship, when his back was bulky. The weather has improved by the weekend, but it looks like this is going to be a similar situation.
“I feel like it’s almost there,” McIlroy said. “I’m not quite there yet, but I feel like I’m getting a little bit better every day.”
McIlroy wasn’t sure what his schedule would be until the Masters. He considered adding a tournament if he could only attend two days at The Players. He said NBC’s Jim “Bones” McKay asked him about his plans for the game against Augusta National in the bottom of the ninth inning.
“I said, ‘Bones, I’ll tell you when you’re done with this hole. There’s a lot of rides on this golf hole,'” he said with a laugh. “If I had missed out, I probably would have added an event leading up to the Masters. So hopefully I’ll be here over the weekend and not have to do that.”
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AP Golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
