Rory McIlroy’s weekend at the Arnold Palmer Invitational never got started as he withdrew Saturday afternoon before his tee time with a back injury.
It’s just the second WD of McIlroy’s PGA Tour career. The first came at the 2013 Honda Classic when he was 7 over and cited a toothache.
According to Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis, the World No. 2 tweaked a muscle in his back during a pre-round gym session. After tweaking his back, McIlroy went to the range to hit some balls and see if he could work through it. He ultimately decided not to play. McIlroy told Lewis he might have been able to gut it out, but didn’t want to push it with the major season on the horizon. The Northern Irishman later told The Guardian’s Ewan Murray that he started having “muscle spasms” in his lower back as he was warming up on the range.
McIlroy fired a 4-under 68 on Friday to jump into the top 10, but still entered the weekend nine shots behind 36-hole leader Daniel Berger. He is coming off a T2 finish at the Genesis Invitational in his last start.
The career Grand Slam winner is the defending champion at next week’s Players Championship and at the Masters, which is 33 days away. McIlroy told Golfweek’s Adam Schupak that he was “all good” as he left the Bay Hill property.
McIlroy, who defeated J.J. Spaun in a three-hole playoff at last year’s Players, is scheduled to have his pre-tournament press conference on Wednesday at 7:45 a.m.
