Rory McIlroy had ‘zero prep’ for ‘weird’ Players. Can he make the cut?

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

One year later, the picture is quite different. McIlroy himself in a fight to make the cut after an opening round he described as “weird.”

Worse yet, he admitted to having virtually “zero prep” 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 at Players, stares down cut line

One of the most interesting plot lines for the second round of the Players revolves around McIlroy. The defending champion is fighting through a back injury he sustained at last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational.

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

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

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

He tees off for Round 2 on Friday at 8:52 a.m. ET.

‘Unbelievably 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’d had leading into the Players due to his back injury.

“Yeah, I’ve sort of had zero prep. I hit maybe 30 golf balls yesterday and then went and chipped and putted around the last six holes last night,” McIlroy shared Thursday evening.

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

“It’s weird, I obviously played on Friday; it’s not as if I’ve taken a ton of time off,” McIlroy said. “But just felt like unbelievably rusty out there.”

Despite that, he’s satisfied that he made it through 18 holes still standing.

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

Even though he’s nursing an injury and has 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 a couple of sort of birdie chances tomorrow on the back, so as I said, try to get it back to even par, and honestly, I don’t feel like I’m that far away,” McIlroy said. “No one went really low this afternoon, which I expected them to, just because the conditions were pretty benign. So, yeah, if I can go out and shoot a good one tomorrow, I feel like I’ll be right in it for the weekend.”