Rory McIlroy set to undergo MRI scan

Rory McIlroy will undergo an MRI scan on his back after the Players Championship after it caused some more niggles during his second round.

The 28-year-old made it through to the weekend at TPC Sawgrass after a largely uneventful one-under-par 71, giving him a level par total that is nine shots behind co-leaders Louis Oosthuizen and Kyle Stanley.

On the first hole, his tenth, McIlroy grimaced after his drive off the tee and admitted that although his current situation is ‘manageable’, he will be getting a scan when he lands home in Belfast on Monday to discover the injury’s extent.

“It’s in the same area as my injury at the start of the year was,” he explained. “If that injury was an eight or a nine in terms of pain and soreness and stiffness, this is around a four or five.

“So it might just be a flare-up of what happened previously and I just need to rest for a few days and it might be ok. But unless you get an image taken of it and you know exactly what’s going on you don’t know.

“Thankfully it feels more muscular than joint or bone at this point. I feel like I can distinguish what the difference is between the two, so it’s about making sure there’s no spasm and it doesn’t really tighten up around the joint.”

McIlroy also believes getting back into practice so rigorously after having three weeks off for his wedding and subsequent honeymoon has played a part in the flare-up.

“Around Augusta, my body adapted and got used to playing and practicing again,” he said. “I took three weeks off and then I went back at it on Friday and instead of maybe gradually building it up again, I hit balls for four or five hours on Friday and did the same on Saturday.

“I felt a bit of stiffness on Sunday, hit a couple of drives that didn’t feel quite right. So I maybe should have just taken it a bit easier over the weekend, but I was excited to get back and excited to play again so maybe being a little over keen was detrimental.”