Rib injury forces Rory McIlroy to rest up

Rory McIlroy has been forced to withdraw from this week’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship with a rib injury.

He played through the pain in losing a play-off to Graeme Storm at the BMW SA Open on Sunday, having said on Friday morning he had considered pulling out of the event due to the problem.

He underwent a scan yesterday and has been diagnosed with a stress fracture to a rib.