PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Rory McIlroy’s availability for the Gamers Championship was largely unsure as a consequence of a again damage he sustained final week, however he shot a gap two-over 74 on Thursday and stated rust was the larger drawback, not his again.
“Essentially the most uncomfortable half was when the ball was underneath my foot, or once I type of chipped. It was like taking place somewhat bit in direction of the ball,” McIlroy stated. “To be sincere, general it was okay. I used to be somewhat drained on the finish of the day, however hey, all the pieces was fairly good really.”
After lacking final week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational with again spasms, McIlroy did not arrive at TPC Sawgrass to defend his title till Wednesday afternoon, testing his decrease again by hitting about 30 balls (which solely went as much as a 6-iron) on the driving vary, then spending time chipping and placing on the again 9.
McIlroy stated Thursday that lacking his standard pre-tournament preparations had value him and compelled him to decrease his expectations.
“Oddly sufficient, clearly he performed on Friday, however he did not have a ton of break day,” McIlroy stated. “However I felt extremely rusty on the surface. I am glad I acquired by means of the spherical.”
The five-time main champion had just one birdie on Thursday and is sitting at T-69, seven strokes behind final night time’s lead, as first-round play was suspended till Friday. He hit solely 6 of 14 fairways and 10 of 18 greens, however misplaced multiple shot to the sphere on his placing. He dropped two chips on a par-5 and suffered a loss.
“To be sincere, I do not really feel like I am that distant,” McIlroy stated. “Nobody was too down this afternoon. What I hoped for was circumstances had been fairly gentle (with the rain). So, yeah, if I can exit tomorrow and get some good photographs, I believe we’ll be high quality for the weekend.”
On Wednesday, McIlroy stated his issues with again spasms had been primarily in his hip flexors. Nevertheless, all through the primary spherical he confirmed no exterior indicators of discomfort or ache.
McIlroy revealed that some stimulation and therapy could also be deliberate forward of tee time for the second spherical, however he hopes his physique continues to progress after Thursday’s spherical.
“If something, it is simply calming all the pieces down,” McIlroy stated. “And hopefully I will get up within the morning feeling pretty much as good as I did at the moment, if not higher.”
