Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth may struggle in Shanghai

Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth are both likely to be far from their best as they contest the final World Golf Championship event of the year in Shanghai this week.

World number two Spieth did not touch a club for two weeks after helping the United States retain the Presidents Cup last month, while McIlroy is a doubt to even play the HSBC Champions at Sheshan International after suffering from a severe bout of food poisoning.

On Tuesday, McIlroy tweeted a picture of part of a menu showing a club sandwich and Japanese baked eel, along with the words: “Who would have thought the eel would be the safer bet!? Hopefully I’ll feel better tomorrow.” That hope proved in vain as the world number three was forced to withdraw from the pre-tournament pro-am, telling reporters: “It wasn’t good at all. I just had a piece of toast and a couple of bits of melon for breakfast and I came out here thinking that I would just to try to hit a few more balls, but even after making a couple of swings my stomach was too sore even to attempt another shot.