ATLANTA — Rory McIlroy was unable to address a ball less than 24 hours prior to his tee-time at the Tour Championship on Thursday. This is how bad his lower right back hurt.
“I was doing a bodyweight squat and my lower back spasmed. It seized up. McIlroy stated that he was unable to move. “It’s good to be where I am now.”
McIlroy, 34, grimaced often and set a personal record for one-armed finishings. However he posted a tough round of 70 points at East Lake during the first round Tour Championship. This is the final playoff tournament that will determine who wins the FedEx Cup.
McIlroy is the defending champion and started the day in a three-stroke deficit. He claimed to be “overjoyed” that he didn’t lose any ground. He claimed to be suffering from a muscular spasm which began bothering his earlier in the week.
He said that the muscle spasm was causing him discomfort. “I always have to control my right side when I play golf a lot, especially at the end of the year.” My right side is always tight. I feel it in my ribs, intercostals and lats. It goes all the way to my right hip.
McIlroy felt tight on Tuesday morning. He stretched and used foam rollers at his home gym.
“I was trying to grab something when my entire right side spasmed. “I spent two hours at home with the physio, flew here, felt better, got some treatment. Then Wednesday morning, still feeling better on my right side, I went to the gym and did some exercises,” he said.
McIlroy told reporters that he had arrived on the golf course six hours early, just before his scheduled 1:49 pm tee time. After his ET tee-time, McIlroy jumped in the cold plunge to work with a team trainers on his back. Around 10 am, he hit 20 wedges. These were the first balls that he had hit since Sunday’s BMW Championship.
He said, “I felt fine so I thought that I would just give it a try.” “I always knew I would tee-off. It was all about how I felt. It got tighter and tighter the further I went. But it should loosen up now and it’s just another 18-hour recovery period before going again tomorrow.”
McIlroy did not seem to be at full speed, but he was still able to beat Rahm on the first hole. He had two bogeys in the first nine holes and did not make a birdie till his 10 hole. McIlroy had four birdies, and four bogeys on the day.
He said, “I just hung in there, thinking that if I can get through today it will be better than yesterday and hopefully tomorrow it will be better than today. I’m just trying to keep moving forward.”
