Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida — Rory McIlroy He was not entirely sure he would be able to play in The Players Championship as he was forced to withdraw last Saturday at Bay Hill due to muscle spasms in his lower back. Now he’s grateful to play two more days at TPC Sawgrass.
But Friday left him with more work than he wanted. McIlroy, the defending champion and two-time winner of The Players, was just over the projected cut line on his final hole on the par-5 ninth. He drove 310-yards, reached the green in two and two-putted birdie for 71.
Satisfaction came only after making the cut.
“I’m happy to be here for the weekend. I’m happy to get two more runs in it,” McIlroy said. “It would have been a waste to go home this afternoon. So to stay together and hopefully play another two days, that’s a win.”
But it was only her third birdie of the round in scoring conditions – and only her fourth of the tournament – so it wasn’t just about making the cut. McIlroy felt good about his back. He was unable to wake up his putter.
Still, sitting at 1-over 145 was a clutch finish.
“I wish I was higher on the leaderboard. I felt like I played well enough today to get up the leaderboard, I just couldn’t get a putt in,” he said.
The back doesn’t seem to be a problem anymore. McIlroy hoped it would be like 2023 at the Tour Championship when he suffered from back pain. All was well until the weekend, and this appears to be the same situation.
“It feels great out there,” McIlroy said. “Not at all, but I feel like it’s getting progressively better every day.”
McIlroy wasn’t sure what his schedule would be for the Masters. If he only got two days at The Players he considered adding a tournament. He said Jim “Bones” Mackey at NBC visited him on the ninth and asked him what his plans were before Augusta National.
“I said, ‘Bones, I’ll tell you after this hole. There’s a lot riding on this golf hole,'” he said, laughing. “If I had missed the cut I probably would have added an event going into the Masters, so hopefully I’m here for the weekend and I won’t have to do that.”
