Rory McIlroy issues injury update ahead of latest Masters title tilt

As he prepares for his latest attempt at completing the career gran slam, Rory McIlroy has given an update on the injury that was bothering him on his most recent competitive start.

Speaking to the Golf Channel shortly after finishing up at the Texas Children’s Houston Open a little over a week ago, the Irishman indicated he had been struggling with an elbow issue, adding that he intended to get treatment on it prior to travelling to Augusta for this week’s Masters.

With the opening round of the tournament less than 48 hours away, the four-time major champ revealed that he has no lingering concerns over his fitness.

“Elbow is good,” he told reporters this morning. “I got a little bit of treatment on it last week, and it’s all good.”

This week marks McIlroy’s 17th Masters start. The current record for most appearances before finally winning a green jacket stands at 19 courtesy of 2017 champ Sergio Garcia.

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Making McIlroy’s mission so much harder is the knowledge that victory would see him become just the sixth player in history to win all four men’s majors at least once.

Golf immortality beckons – but he’s trying his best to pay as little attention to that as possible.

“It’s just narratives,” he insisted. “It’s noise. It’s just trying to block out that noise as much as possible. I need to treat this tournament like all the other tournaments that I play throughout the year.

“I understand the narrative and the noise, and there’s a lot of anticipation and buildup coming into this tournament each and every year, but I just have to keep my head down and focus on my job.”

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In a wide-ranging chat, the world No.2 also opened up on the role that his daughter Poppy plays in helping him maintain perspective.

“[Parenthood] definitely makes the lows a little easier to take,” he smiled. “The PLAYERS was the first time that she sort of realised what I did, which was really cool.

“The day after The PLAYERS, she went into school and there was a couple of kids that had said some stuff to her, and she came home to me that day and said, ‘Daddy, are you famous?’ I said, ‘It depends who you talk to.’ It’s a bit of a double-edged sword. You have to temper the expectations sometimes.

“But as everyone knows that’s had children, it’s an amazing addition to life, and it’s great that she’s here this week.”

Michael McEwan is bunkered's Head of Content and has been part of the team since 2004. In that time, he has interviewed almost every major figure within the sport, from Jack Nicklaus, to Rory McIlroy, to Donald Trump. The host of the multi award-winning bunkered Podcast and a member of Balfron Golfing Society, Michael is the author of three books and is the 2023 PPA Scotland 'Writer of the Year' and 'Columnist of the Year'. Dislikes white belts, yellow balls and iron headcovers. Likes being drawn out of the media ballot to play Augusta National.

Head of Content