Rory McIlroy said he would talk later. And that’s what you want to hear, whether you were wondering how his back was holding up, or whether it would slow him down in defending his title at The Players Championship this week, or whether it would be problematic a month from now at the Masters, which he also won last year.
McIlroy’s came the reply as he walked up TPC Sawgrass’ 9th hole, his 18th during Friday’s second round The players. He said the well-known NBC analyst in the course, Jim “Bones” Mackayhad approached him and asked him what the next few weeks would look like.
“And I said, Bones, I’ll tell you after this hole,” McIlroy said after the round.
“There’s a lot riding on this golf hole.”
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Up to that point, his game had been fair. A couple of birds. A couple boges. That followed a two-over 74 in the first round, and that preceded the doubt after he switched backs a week ago in Arnold Palmer’s Invitationalthen didn’t arrive in Ponte Vedra, Fla., until Wednesday afternoon. But he was still grinding. And that will likely stop the gnashing of teeth from the McIlroy faithful.
Then they might have screamed. Needing a birdie on the par-5 to slide past the projected cut, he birdied the fourth. McIlroy’s game was sublime. A fairway ball that traveled 310 yards and ended up on the left side of the fairway. A second of 280 meters that ended on the green field. Two shots.
“Yeah, it would be bad to go home this afternoon,” McIlroy said, “so to hang around and hopefully play another two days, that’s a win.”
At the very least, his back will see more swing and the turns will be resolved. On Thursday, the tee shots felt good, he said, while the chipping was soft. With the latter, he said he is more upright and the sensitivity is reduced. “It’s more when I get over it. So getting beat yesterday or like when the ball was under my feet is when I — not that I felt it, but it was more — it was OK. It was like I had a hard time believing it, more than anything.”
Friday was better, though.
“I think to go through a day,” McIlroy said, “where I was, okay, it was fine, I didn’t feel anything, I woke up this morning I felt fine, so yeah.”
Now there is a chance to play another 36 holes. McIlroy said he felt he played well on Friday – but “I just couldn’t make a putt”. Had it been over – and to answer Mackay’s question – he said he would probably have played another event before the Masters next month.
“I’m happy to be here for the weekend,” McIlroy said.
“I’m happy to have two more runs in it.”
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