Wary McIlroy a 'game-time decision' as his Sawgrass status goes down to the wire 

The defending champion is not fully confident his back issues have resolved themselves enough but he will wait until the last moment before Thursday's tee time to make a call

Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, reacts while hitting practice shots during a practice round for The Players Championship golf tournament Wednesday, March 11, 2026, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

The defending Players champion is in the house – finally. Whether he opens his title defence on Thursday remains a “game-time decision.” 

Rory McIlroy and his balky back rolled up to the clubhouse at TPC Sawgrass at 2:20 p.m. on Wednesday, less than 24 hours before his scheduled 1:42 p.m. local first-round tee time with Xander Schauffele and Hideki Matsuyama.

McIlroy, who withdrew from last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill before the third round citing back spasms, hit some irons only from the secluded back corner of the practice range at Sawgrass. The two-time Players champion did not play a practice round, and walked only the back nine late Wednesday with just a wedge and putter.

“It’s better than it was. I hit up until a 6-iron on the range there and it felt okay,” McIlroy said. “I’ve got about, I don’t know, is it 20 hours until I’m supposed to tee off tomorrow. So, yeah, we’ll see. I’m taking it sort of hour by hour. But it feels better. That’s all I can say. Like I couldn’t stand to address the ball on Saturday morning on the range at Bay Hill, and it’s obviously better than that.

“So, yeah, probably a game-time decision, but all indications are pointing in the right direction, so hopefully good night tonight. The drugs are working wonders, and then just keep it going from there.” 

McIlroy first “felt a small twinge” in his back while he was warming up in the gym Saturday morning before his third round at Bay Hill. The muscle spasms dogged him as he was hitting balls on the range, so he withdrew as a precaution considering he has title defenses this week at the Players and next month in the Masters.

On Monday, McIlroy texted a statement to the Golf Channel saying he was postponing his arrival at TPC Sawgrass to keep treating his back that was proving more bothersome than he originally expected it to be.

“The back is being a bit more stubborn than we thought, so I’m staying at home today and tomorrow to continue treatment in south Florida with the hope to travel to Ponte Vedra on Wednesday at some point,” McIlroy said.

McIlroy arrived at Sawgrass Wednesday afternoon and walked into the clubhouse carrying a couple of golf clubs and an Augusta National bag with shoes inside. He showed no outward signs of discomfort with his back when he arrived.

After hitting some irons on the back of the range for a half hour, McIlroy took a break and sat down looking at his phone for 20 minutes. We he got up, he seemed a little tighter and went through a series of stretches under the supervision of performance coach Ro Sharma before resuming his iron session on the range.

“I wouldn’t even call it pain,” he said of what’s bothering his back, labelling it muscular and not structural leading to no concerns that he can do long-term damage by playing. “I would say just more like sensitivity. Like even just hitting balls there for a little bit, just feel like my muscles around the area [are] just getting a little bit, like, fatigued. Right adductor started to cramp a little bit. But it’s fine; it’s expected. But more like sensitivity rather than pain."

He’ll make his decision whether or not to play on Thursday after hitting more full shots on the range.

“The nice thing is you don’t really need driver around here that much, especially with how firm it is,” McIlroy said. “But, yeah, obviously getting into the longer clubs is something that I’m going to have to try to do tomorrow. But as I said, I hit up until 6-iron there and it felt okay.” 

His familiarity with the Stadium Course leaves him comfortable not playing a practice round, but he did want to get a feel for the course setup around the greens.

“I would much rather do short game and putting on the course rather than on the practice area, just get a better feel for the shots that you need,” he said. “So I'll go walk nine holes with a wedge and a putter, but yeah, like lines off tees and clubs off tees, like that, I mean I know all of that stuff; it’s just getting a feel for sort of how the ball’s reacting on the greens.” 

McIlroy beat J.J. Spaun in a three-hole Monday playoff on St. Patrick’s Day last year. He and 2023-24 repeat champion Scottie Scheffler headline a 123-man field at the tour’s flagship event.

The overseeded Stadium Course is in prime shape to play host to the best field of the PGA Tour. While famously not suiting one particular style of golfer, Scheffler and McIlroy have comfortably decoded the course with their diverse skillsets in recent years.

“I grew up on a golf course where, when you hit it off line, it’s a parkland style golf course, so I wasn’t ever going to really lose many balls,” Scheffler said. “But when you hit it off line you were in a lot of trees, and you had to learn how to shape the ball low, high, around trees, controlling your distance, controlling your spin, running it. And also growing up in Texas, the wind and the conditions are changing on a daily basis, so you see tons of different stuff.

“What I always loved about golf was always being able to try to do those different things. And this golf course I think kind of brings it out of us. It almost forces you into hitting different types of shots.”