A MONTH OUT from the defence of his green jacket at Augusta Rory McIlroy has been forced to withdraw from the Arnold Palmer Invitational with a back injury.
The Masters champion was due to tee off for the start of his third round at Bay Hill earlier today until he suffered twinges in his back that developed into spasms.
The PGA then confirmed that McIlroy had made the decision to pull out because of the back problem. The Holywood native was nine shots behind leader Daniel Berger going into the weekend after an opening round 72 and improved 68 yesterday.
McIlroy is also due to be in action at TPC Sawgrass next week to defend the Players’ Championship and also fine tune his Masters preparation.
This back issue now brings an element of uncertainty to those plans, and McIlroy later released a statement on the matter through the PGA.
“While warming up in the gym this morning, I felt a small twinge in my back. As I started hitting balls on the range before the round, it worsened and developed into muscle spasms in my lower back.
“Unfortunately, I’m not able to continue and have to withdraw. I was excited to compete this weekend. I wish the Arnold Palmer Invitational a great finish and look forward to being back next year.”
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Muscle spasms in back force Rory McIlroy to withdraw from Arnold Palmer Invitational
A MONTH OUT from the defence of his green jacket at Augusta Rory McIlroy has been forced to withdraw from the Arnold Palmer Invitational with a back injury.
The Masters champion was due to tee off for the start of his third round at Bay Hill earlier today until he suffered twinges in his back that developed into spasms.
The PGA then confirmed that McIlroy had made the decision to pull out because of the back problem. The Holywood native was nine shots behind leader Daniel Berger going into the weekend after an opening round 72 and improved 68 yesterday.
McIlroy is also due to be in action at TPC Sawgrass next week to defend the Players’ Championship and also fine tune his Masters preparation.
This back issue now brings an element of uncertainty to those plans, and McIlroy later released a statement on the matter through the PGA.
“While warming up in the gym this morning, I felt a small twinge in my back. As I started hitting balls on the range before the round, it worsened and developed into muscle spasms in my lower back.
“Unfortunately, I’m not able to continue and have to withdraw. I was excited to compete this weekend. I wish the Arnold Palmer Invitational a great finish and look forward to being back next year.”
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Golf Rory McIlroy