Rory McIlroy withdrew from the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Saturday due to muscle spasms in his back. While he initially planned to appear in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, on Tuesday to begin his title defense at The Players Championship, ongoing pain delayed his arrival to TPC Sawgrass until Wednesday, putting his status for the tournament in question. 

After saying on Monday that his back was being “more stubborn than we thought,” McIlroy arrived on Wednesday and spent time on the practice range, the first time he hit any balls since withdrawing at Bay Hill. After swinging only irons in his range session, McIlroy got some more treatment before providing an update on his status.

“It’s better. It’s better than it was. I hit up until a 6 iron on the range there, and it felt OK,” McIlroy said. “I’ve got about … 20 hours until I tee off, or until I’m supposed to tee off [Thursday]. So, yeah, we’ll see. I’m taking it sort of hour by hour. But it feels better. That’s all I can say.

“I couldn’t stand to address the ball on Saturday morning on the range at Bay Hill, and it’s obviously better than that. So, yeah, probably a game-time decision, but all indications are pointing in the right direction, so hopefully good night tonight. The drugs are working wonders, and then just keep it going from there.”

McIlroy clarified that there isn’t any structural problem with his back; it’s just a muscular issue with “discomfort and fatigue.” There’s no risk of doing serious damage to his back by playing. That said, around a course as demanding and exacting as TPC Sawgrass, it’s far from ideal to be battling physical discomfort on top of the mental anguish provided by Pete Dye’s gem. 

The injury sprang up while McIlroy was preparing to play his third round at Bay Hill. After trying to loosen his back, he was unable to get full cooperation and pulled out of the tournament about half an hour before his tee time.

McIlroy said he probably could have tried to play through it; however, he did not want to risk making it worse before a critical stretch of the season, particularly with him trying to defend his championships at The Players and the Masters over the next month. As he aims towards playing on Thursday, he’ll have to make his way around TPC Sawgrass without any practice rounds under his belt. 

The silver lining is that McIlroy, a two-time winner at The Players, won’t need much practice to get comfortable with the golf course, given his familiarity. However, it’s far from ideal to come into an event with lingering back issues and few reps in preparation for a test as exacting as TPC Sawgrass. 

McIlroy is still the second-ranked favorite to win The Players at 15-1, per DraftKings.