HOLLOW & GOODBYE
Struggling Rory could take rest of year off in bid to regain form and fitness
RORY McILROY is considering skipping the rest of the season to heal his nagging rib injury and get fit for the Masters.
The world No.4 took time off due to a stress fracture of his ribs suffered in January. And after shooting a final round 68 at the US PGA at Quail Hollow, he said he was still suffering from pain his arm and a back muscle “going into spasm”.
With the Majors over for this year, McIlroy said his priority will be getting fit for Augusta next April where he has another chance to complete his career Grand Slam.
That would
mean missing the end-of-season events in the FedEx Cup – where he won two and scooped the $10million first prize last year – and the Race to Dubai.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” he said. “It’s just bugging me at the moment and has been for some time. “You might not see me until next year. You might see me in a couple of weeks time. It really depends. I have a good bit of time to get healthy and address a few things going forward. “I know there is a big part of the year left but we really don’t have a big one until April so that is really what I’m going to try and concentrate on. “It has been hurting every time I swing and that is why you have seen me hitting big draws all this week just to protect the left side of my body “I have got this next week off to assess what I need to go forward. I’m flying home to Northern Ireland and I’ll catch up with physio Steve McGregor this week. “But the more I play, it’s just not allowing that time to heal 100 percent.
“An injury like this, it’s eight full weeks of rest before you start to rehab it and then you go again.
“If I want to challenge on a more consistent basis, I need to get 100 percent healthy.”
Tennis stars Roger Federer (left) and Rafa Nadal took long injury breaks last year and returned to dominate this season’s Grand Slams.
But McIlroy, who missed the 2015 Open with an ankle injury sustained playing football, admitted he was reluctant to shut down totally.
“I feel like a sense of not duty, but I’ve missed a lot of time,” he said. “If I’m capable of playing, I feel like why shouldn’t you.
“But if you are not capable of playing at your best, why should you play? So it’s a Catch 22.”