Rory McIlroy withdrew from the Arnold Palmer Invitational just minutes before his third round because of back spasms. Just a week after that, Collin Morikawa injured himself while taking a practice swing at The Players Championship. Both are also part of TGL teams and have played in the tech-infused league this season, which gave rise to a popular theory that TGL might be a cause of this. Rory McIlroy, however, refuted the claim in the strongest terms.

“It’s a little more travel for the guys, a little more. To put it [injuries] solely on that is preposterous. No,” said McIlroy, dismissing the blame put on TGL.

TGL stages its events on weekdays to avoid a clash with the PGA Tour schedule. However, recently, Tom Kim traveled from PGA National, where he was playing the final round of the Cognizant Classic, to the SoFi Center to play in TGL, within 24 hours. Other than the traveling, critics also reasoned that players need to swing clubs harder while playing simulator golf, which might be causing back issues for pros. McIlroy scoffed at the criticism.

“My ball speed on Tour is way faster than it is in TGL,” added the five-time major winner.

Interestingly, a comparison between raw stats reveals the gap isn’t that wide as the Ulsterman suggested. In 2026, Rory McIlroy averaged 185.3 MPH ball speed in TGL vis-a-vis 186.89 MPH on the PGA Tour. He ranks second in TGL and seventh on the PGA Tour. On the other hand, Rory McIlroy averaged 128.4 MPH (1st) clubhead speed on TGL, compared to his clubhead speed of 124.06 MPH (11th) on the Tour.

Just a few days back, Billy Horschel got embroiled in an online argument against the very same claim. Ryan French of Monday Q Info shared that a bunch of notable names from the tech league, including Collin Morikawa, Sahith Theegala, Justin Thomas, and Billy Horschel, have been struggling against back issues and injuries.

Horschel pushed back against the claim in the strongest terms. McIlroy, who plays for Boston Common Golf on TGL, shared the same views. The Northern Irishman is the co-founder of TMRW Sports, the parent company of TGL. Tiger Woods is also a co-owner.

Nevertheless, McIlroy is clearly struggling since coming back from the injury. He managed to make the cut at 1-under. He finished at 3-over after 54 holes. Meanwhile, he has reflected on the probable reason that could have derailed him from the tournament.

Rory McIlroy explains struggles after grinding through tough Players Championship round

The second round of the Players Championship turned out to be challenging for the Northern Irish golfer. He revealed he would’ve been bummed to miss the cut as the defending champion, but his performance has left more questions than it answered. He struggled mightily in putting, losing four strokes against the field. McIlroy also ranked 27th in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee. He made seven birdies against eight bogeys and one double.

“I felt a little bit better. I would say if anything, it was just I was struggling to trust everything was OK yesterday,” said McIlroy to Sky Sports, reflecting on his health. 

Rory McIlroy also explained that rather than driving, he is struggling when the ball is near his feet, as it stays during chipping and putting.

He added, “I struggled a little bit on lies that were beneath my feet and stuff like that, but today I felt pretty good and felt like I hit the ball well. I really just couldn’t get a putt to drop. That was the issue.”

McIlroy is also the defending champion of the Masters. Unless his back cooperates with him, it will be difficult for the five-time major winner to defend his title at Augusta National.