Rory McIlroy had ‘zero preparation’ for ‘weird’ players. Can it make the cut?

This time last year, Rory McIlroy was in the midst of a rough stretch saw him win the Players Championship (after winning at Pebble Beach), then go to Augusta and close out the career Grand Slam at the Masters.

A year later, the picture is completely different. McIlroy himself in a struggle to make the cut after an opening round he described it as “weird”.

Worse yet, he admitted he had “virtually zero preparation” for his title defense at TPC Sawgrass. But he also revealed that despite everything, he still thinks he has a shot at winning a historic third Players Championship title this week, let alone making the cut.

Injured Rory McIlroy struggles with players, looks down the fairway

One of the most interesting plot lines for second round of Players revolves around McIlroy. The reigning champion is struggling with a back injury he supported at the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week.

He didn’t even get to TPC Sawgrass until Wednesday, play a practice round and declare his involvement in the tournament it would be a “game time” decision..

When it was time for him to return around Thursday afternoon, McIlroy decided to give it a shot. But he didn’t seem to have “it” in Round 1. The reigning Masters champion made three bogeys against a birdie for one two over 74.

Only the top 65 players (and draws) will make players wait and play the weekend. So McIlroy has some work to do to keep his title defense alive.

It tips off for Round 2 on Friday at 8:52 a.m. ET.

‘Incredibly rusty’ McIlroy still thinks he can win players

After his disappointing opening round, McIlroy stood for a media scrum with reporters and detailed how little practice he had been doing on the golfers due to a back injury.

“Yeah, I’ve had kind of zero preparation. I hit maybe 30 golf balls yesterday and then I went and chipped and putted the last six holes last night,” McIlroy said Thursday night.

But he also explained how he felt more than he thought he would, having played a round less than a week ago at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

“It’s weird, obviously I played on Friday; it’s not like I got a ton of time off,” McIlroy said. “But I just felt incredibly rusty there.”

Despite this, he is pleased to have managed 18 holes still standing.

“I’m glad I got through the round. Hopefully tonight goes well and I’ll be out there tomorrow, and I was trying to get back to even par for the day on that back nine. I just couldn’t quite get it.”

Although he has an injury and a fight ahead of him to make the cut, McIlroy’s has a different goal for Friday’s round and beyond.

He has a third Players victory on his mind.

“But starting with some birdie chances tomorrow on the back, so like I said, try to get it back to par, and honestly, I don’t feel like I’m that far,” McIlroy said. “Nobody really sat down this afternoon, which I expected, just because the conditions were pretty good. So yeah, if I can go out and shoot a good one tomorrow, I feel like I’ll be good for the weekend.”