PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Rory McIlroy will have an MRI on Monday when he returns to Northern Ireland after completing THE PLAYERS Championship. McIlroy has been dealing with back pain this week while competing on THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass. He is expected to make the cut after shooting 73-71 in the first two rounds. “It’s obviously not 100 percent, but it’s good enough to get myself around here for the next couple of days,” McIlroy said about his back. He said the pain is coming from the same area as the stress fracture in his ribs that sidelined him for the start of the year. “If that injury was an 8 or a 9 in terms of pain and soreness and stiffness, this is around a 4 or 5,” he said. “It might just be a flare-up of what happened previously and I just need to rest for a few days and it might be OK. Hopefully that’s what it shows in the scan next week.” The pain he’s feeling this week feels like muscular discomfort instead of pain in a bone or joint, he said. McIlroy suffered a stress fracture in his ribs while testing golf equipment during the offseason. The injury sidelined him from mid-January until March. McIlroy, who announced this week that he has signed an equipment endorsement deal with TaylorMade, said his current discomfort may have been caused by a rapid return to practice after taking time off for his wedding. “I took three weeks off and then I went back at it again on Friday and instead of maybe gradually building it up again, I hit balls for four or five hours on Friday and did the same on Saturday,” said McIlroy, who got married on April 22. “I felt a bit of stiffness on Sunday, hit a couple of drives that didn’t quite feel right. Maybe I should have just taken it a bit easier over the weekend, but I was excited to get back, excited to play again.” McIlroy, who ranks 48th in the FedExCup, has finished in the top 12 in the past four PLAYERS. This is his first start since finishing seventh at the Masters.
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