With Ryder Cup Redemption in Mind, Rory McIlroy Says Back Injury is Improving

At the Irish Open, Rory McIlroy said his back isn't quite 100 percent, but it's good enough to begin serious preparations for Rome.

STRAFFAN, Ireland — Since winning the Irish Open in 2016, Rory McIlroy has had sporadic experiences and limited success on the Emerald Isle.

After a missed cut in 2017, a T28 finish in 2018 and a T59 in 2021, the world No. 2 (No. 2 SIWGR) returns to the K Club this week older and presumably wiser.

“It's been good to get back and sort of try to refamiliarize myself with the golf course,” McIlroy said. “A lot's happened in the last seven years, so I actually struggled to remember quite a few holes when I played this morning, but it's also started to come back.”

Rory McIlroy finished fourth in the FedEx Cup playoffs that ended last month :: Mike Stewart/AP

McIlroy comes to Ireland after a successful FedEx Cup where the Ulsterman finished fourth despite an ailing back at the beginning of the week.

“I would say it's at 90 percent, 95 percent,” McIlroy said. “It's not 100 percent better. I just happened to take care of it a little bit but it's not preventing me from doing anything I want to do. Just being a little mindful, I guess.”

After returning from the Tour Championship, McIlroy started to do some rehab exercises, went to see the physio a couple of times and then hit balls on Saturday before flying to London for a couple days. Then he was on to Dublin.

With the condensed FedEx Cup schedule and hot temperatures in its host cities of Memphis, Tenn., Chicago and Atlanta, McIlroy spent little time working on his game and now looks to the next couple weeks with a dual purpose of fine-tuning his game and competing.

“It will be nice over these next couple of weeks and obviously the week leading into Rome to sort of feel like I've spent some time refining a few things in my game and working on some stuff,” McIlroy said.

McIlroy said one of the benefits to playing this week is that the course setup is similar to how Marco Simone will play at the Ryder Cup.

“You've got to drive it well here, the rough is very thick, so there is very much a premium on getting the ball in play off the tee,” McIlroy said. “But then from there, it's not the longest golf course in the world, so you can score. But to me, it's all about putting the ball in play off the tee here this week because the rough is pretty penal.”

McIlroy has been on the last six Ryder Cups, with a 12-12-4 record, and his last appearance at Whistling Straits was his worst.

For the first time in his Ryder Cup career, the then-32-year-old sat out a session while going 1-3 overall.

At the time, McIlroy said that he should have done more.

The Europeans' 19-9 drubbing haunts the team and is a rallying cry that will be part of the team-room discussions in Rome.

“I think it's important to feel like you're doing your bit for the team,” McIlroy said. “As everyone saw last time, I didn't feel like I did what I was supposed to, and obviously trying to put that right this year.”