Rory McIlroy will see how ‘body feels’ and assess schedule before Masters

Rory McIlroy will weigh up whether to play another event before the defence of his Masters title next month after an underwhelming outing at the Players Championship. He was the defending champion at TPC Sawgrass, but his preparation was hampered by a back injury and he finished in a disappointing tie for 46th on Sunday.

“I’ll see how my body feels,” said the world No 2. “We’ll see how I feel in practice and at home and if I get itchy feet at home maybe add an event at some point.

“It was important to make the weekend here and play an extra couple of days. I’m happy I got through four days and my body feels good. My game got a little bit better as the week went on, even though the scores probably didn’t reflect it over the weekend.

“See how the next week goes, see how once I get back to a full practice schedule and in the gym and stuff like that, see how my body reacts to that, and then I’ll see.”