Rory McIlroy issues update on back injury with Ryder Cup looming

With the Ryder Cup only three weeks away, Rory McIlroy has provided an update on his back injury – and it’s good news for European captain Luke Donald.

The world No.2 tweaked his lower back ahead of the Tour Championship last month and was seen grimacing in pain throughout the PGA Tour season finale at East Lake.

However, ahead of this week’s Irish Open at The K Club, he revealed that he’s well down the road to recovery.

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“It’s okay,” said McIlroy. “I would say it’s at 90%, 95%. It’s not 100% better but it’s not preventing me from doing anything I want to do. I’m just being a little mindful, I guess.”

Asked if the issue is something to worry about going forward, he added: “No, not at all. I had much worse back issues when I was 21. So this is fine. This is a bit of tightness, a bit of a muscle spasm.

“This is nothing compared to some of the stuff I’ve had. I’ve had a herniated disc and I’ve had stuff that would be a lot more worrying than this it, and I’ve got really good people around me that know what to do. It’s fine. It’s totally fine.”

McIlroy revealed that he started working on rehabbing the injury as soon as he returned home from the Tour Championship.

“I went to see the physio a couple times and I hit balls once on Saturday before we left and flew and we spent a couple days in London before we came here,” he said.

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“So yeah, I hit balls on Saturday and then I practiced a bit yesterday on Tuesday. I’m a bit limited in what I’ve done but I sort of needed to rest it and take care of that as the priority.

“I was saying to Harry [Diamond, caddie] and Michael [Bannon, coach] during the FedExCup Playoffs, it was so hot those weeks that I didn’t really feel like I practised. It was just sort of warm up, play. I didn’t really hit balls after the rounds.

“I didn’t feel like I practised since the week before the Playoffs, whenever that was, the first week in August.

“So, it will be nice over these next couple of weeks and obviously the week leading into Rome to sort of feel like I’ve spent some time refining a few things in my game and working on some stuff. I’m excited to spend the next few weeks over here and do that.”

Michael McEwan is the Deputy Editor of bunkered 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.

Deputy Editor