{"id":516507,"date":"2026-04-06T21:13:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T21:13:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/516507\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T21:13:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T21:13:12","slug":"rory-mcilroy-injury-sparks-concern-as-golfer-targets-another-masters-triumph","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/516507\/","title":{"rendered":"Rory McIlroy injury sparks concern as golfer targets another Masters triumph"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rory McIlroy arrives at Augusta National this week in an unprecedented position \u2014 defending a Masters title rather than chasing one.<\/p>\n

However, the Northern Irishman’s bid to retain the green jacket faces significant uncertainty due to a persistent back problem.<\/p>\n

The 2025 champion pulled out of the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March after the injury flared up.<\/p>\n

His subsequent appearance at The Players Championship on 12 March proved disappointing, with McIlroy finishing in a tie for 46th place.<\/p>\n

Since that underwhelming performance at TPC Sawgrass, the four-time major winner has been absent from competitive golf entirely.<\/p>\n

Following a promising start to 2026, his recent form on the PGA Tour has declined markedly.<\/p>\n

CBS reporter Amanda Balionis has now voiced reservations about McIlroy’s prospects of claiming consecutive green jackets.<\/p>\n

\"Rory<\/p>\n

Rory McIlroy arrives at Augusta National this week in an unprecedented position \u2014 defending a Masters title rather than chasing one<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

GETTY<\/p>\n

“I think, listen, he said it at The Players, right? He felt rusty,” Balionis remarked to the Fairway Rollin podcast.<\/p>\n

“He didn’t look quite himself and he’s not going through the same schedule that he went through last year that led to success.”<\/p>\n

The broadcaster highlighted how golfers tend towards superstition when it comes to major championship preparation. <\/p>\n

\"Amanda<\/p>\n

Amanda Balionis fears for Rory McIlroy as the Masters looms<\/p>\n

| GETTY<\/p>\n

She suggested McIlroy would ideally have wanted to mirror his victorious 2025 approach but acknowledged this was impossible given his rehabilitation requirements.<\/p>\n

“That’s obviously not in the cards for him right now as he tries to get that back to 100%, tries to knock that rust off,” Balionis added.<\/p>\n

Balionis expressed particular concern about the demands Augusta National places on players managing back complaints, noting the course’s undulating terrain presents unique challenges.<\/p>\n

“I don’t know, back issues at Augusta National are tough,” she observed.<\/p>\n

“We’ve seen it with a lot of players. This is a hard place to be wondering at what point am I going to feel that tug in my back?”<\/p>\n

The reporter admitted uncertainty regarding McIlroy’s recovery progress but remained sceptical about his physical condition heading into the tournament.<\/p>\n

\"Rory<\/p>\n

Rory McIlroy won the Masters last year, completing the career Grand Slam in the process<\/p>\n

| REUTERS<\/p>\n

“I would be hard pressed to say he’s a 100 per cent,” Balionis stated.<\/p>\n

“I just don’t think those back things solve themselves like that when you’re a golfer and you have to keep practicing and you have to keep doing the motion that likely caused whatever the thing is.”<\/p>\n

McIlroy, however, sought to play down concerns about his back affecting his game during a media session at The Players on 12 March.<\/p>\n

“Honestly, overall it was fine,” McIlroy said of his injury. “Got a little bit tired at the end of the day, but yeah, it was actually all pretty good.”<\/p>\n

Despite these reassurances, the Northern Irishman conceded he felt far from sharp on the course.<\/p>\n

He added: “It’s weird, I obviously played on Friday; it’s not as if I’ve taken a ton of time off. But just felt like unbelievably rusty out there.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rory McIlroy arrives at Augusta National this week in an unprecedented position \u2014 defending a Masters title rather…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":516508,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[5904,50,2623,2331,217,101,56,54,55,741,1384,154037],"class_list":{"0":"post-516507","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-golf","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-rory-mcilroy","11":"tag-sgg","12":"tag-sport","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom","16":"tag-unitedkingdom","17":"tag-us","18":"tag-us-news","19":"tag-us-sport"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=516507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516507\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/516508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=516507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=516507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=516507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}