PONTE VEDRA, Fla. – Rory McIlroy teed it up Thursday at The Players Championship having only hit about a bag of practice balls since late last week.
It showed in his performance.
His back feeling better than anticipated at TPC Sawgrass, McIlroy’s game was still a bit sloppy after a truncated practice schedule that only began with a light session on Wednesday afternoon.
McIlroy failed to birdie a single par 5 and signed for a 2-over 74 that put him seven shots off the early lead.
“It’s not as if I’ve taken a ton of time off,” he said. “But just felt unbelievably rusty out there.”
It wasn’t known whether he would even get to the starting line Thursday after he declared himself a “game-time decision” a day earlier.
The world No. 2 was inside the top 10 heading into the third round at Bay Hill last weekend when he tweaked his back while warming up in the gym. He withdrew from the signature event out of precaution, then admitted that the injury was a bit more “stubborn” than he expected on Monday when he announced his intentions to stay home for the next two days to continue treatment.
McIlroy flew north from his home in South Florida and arrived at TPC Sawgrass at about 2 p.m. on Wednesday, receiving treatment and hitting only about 30 balls, using no more than a 6-iron. He went through a full, regular warmup prior to his opening round.
Though he felt some occasional discomfort in his back with downhill lies below his feet and chipping, McIlroy said, “overall, it was fine.” He hit less than half of his fairways and just 10 greens in his competitive return.
“Honestly, I don’t feel like I’m that far away,” he said. “No one went really low this afternoon, which I expected them to, just because the conditions were pretty benign. So if I can go out and shoot a good one tomorrow, I feel like I’ll be right in it for the weekend.”
McIlroy will tee off at 8:52 a.m. ET Friday.