Rory McIlroy's back is feeling fine. It's his putter that hurts him at The Players

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Rory McIlroy wasn't entirely sure he would be able to play in The Players Championship because of muscle spasms in his lower back that forced him to withdraw last Saturday at Bay Hill. Now he's thankful to be playing two more days at the TPC Sawgrass.

But it took a lot more work than he wanted Friday. McIlroy, the defending champion and two-time winner of The Players, was over the projected cut line approaching his final hole at the par-5 ninth. He blistered a 310-yard drive, reached the green in two and had a two-putt birdie for a 71.

Satisfaction came only from making the cut.

“I'm happy to be here for the weekend. I'm happy to get two more runs at it,” McIlroy said. “It would have sucked to be going home this afternoon. So to hang around and hopefully play two more days, that's a win.”

But it was only his third birdie of the round in scorable conditions — and only fourth birdie of the tournament — so this wasn't simply about making the cut. McIlroy woke up feeling good about his back. He just couldn't get his putter to wake up.

Still, it was a clutch finish to sit at 1-over 145.

“I wish I was further up the leaderboard. I felt like I played well enough today to be up the leaderboard, I just couldn’t get a putt to drop,” he said.

The back no longer appears to be an issue. McIlroy was hopeful it would be like 2023 at the Tour Championship when he had a balky back. It was fine by the weekend, and this appears to be a similar situation.

“It feels pretty much there,” McIlroy said. “Not all the way there, but I feel like it's just progressively getting better each and every day.”

McIlroy was not sure what his schedule would be leading to the Masters. He contemplated adding a tournament if he only got in two days at The Players. He said Jim “Bones” Mackay at NBC asked him going down the ninth what his plans were ahead of Augusta National.

“I said, ‘Bones, I’ll tell you after this hole. There’s a lot riding on this golf hole,'” he said with a laugh. “If I had have missed the cut I probably would have added an event going into the Masters, so hopefully I’m here for the weekend and I don’t have to do that.”

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