Defending champion Rory McIlroy arrived at TPC Sawgrass on Wednesday afternoon, declaring he had recovered sufficiently from his back injury. However, the opening round suggested otherwise. He carded a two-over-par 74, his worst start this year, and now he has given a detailed justification for what went wrong on Thursday.

“No,” McIlroy told the media, answering whether his back injury caused any big problems. “I would say the most discomfort was like when the ball was below my feet or with chipping, just like getting down a little bit to it. Honestly, overall it was fine. Got a little bit tired at the end of the day, but yeah, it was actually all pretty good.”

While most expected the back injury to take a toll on his off-the-tee performance, it actually harmed his short game. The Ulsterman started the day striping down a 329-yard drive, notching a staggering 187 MPH ball speed. He averaged 306 yards with the longest club in his bag, but bled 0.536 strokes with his irons.

McIlroy also suffered in putting, ranking 96 in the field, losing 1.278 strokes against the field. He made only 34’8″ putts. He missed several close shots and ended the day 2-over par, with three bogeys at the 4th, 5th, and 11th, and one birdie on the par-4 6th hole.

“I’m glad I got through the round. I hope tonight goes well, and I can get out there tomorrow to get back to even par on the back nine. Couldn’t quite get there, but starting with a couple of sort of birdie chances tomorrow on the back. Honestly, I don’t feel like I’m that far away. No one went really low this afternoon. If I can go out and shoot a good one tomorrow, I feel like I’ll be right in it for the weekend.”

After withdrawing from Bay Hill, McIlroy spent the next four days at home, resting and getting treatment. Nothing was confirmed regarding his participation until he arrived at TPC Sawgrass less than 24 hours before his scheduled start. He didn’t have a practice round, but his caddie, Harry Diamond, was there, studying the course for two days beforehand.

The Irish golfer barely had any practice. He had hardly hit 30 balls on Wednesday, and he chipped and putted around the last six holes last night. However, a sudden rain made the Stadium Course play much differently than the night before. The greens had become softer and slower, and the putting surfaces were two feet slower than they were the previous night. This big change forced him to adjust his touch while he already felt rusty.

McIlroy was seven shots behind the first-round leaders. The best score of the opening round was 5-under, which five golfers made: Sahith Theegala, Maverick McNealy, Austin Smotherman, Lee Hodges, and Sepp Straka. All of them are tied in first position now.

But McIlroy was not the only star grappling with physical failure at TPC Sawgrass.

The injury wave: Collin Morikawa’s abrupt exit

World #4 Collin Morikawa arrived at the PLAYERS as a favorite to win the trophy. He was enjoying a brilliant 2026 season marked by a win at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and top-10 finishes at Riviera (T7) and the API (5th). He entered the week ranking 1st in the FedExCup Standings and even looked sharp and ready during his warmup session on Thursday before everything went wrong.

The disaster occurred on the eleventh tee, which was only the second hole he played that day. After saving par on the 10th, he took a practice swing on the 11th tee and immediately grabbed his lower back in agony. He knew his tournament was over right then.

“I felt fine in warm-up. There have been no signs of back problems. And teed it up on 11 and took one practice swing, and I just knew it was gone. Like, I just had the feeling before it happened. And I just can’t get through it. Trust me, I would play if I could. It’s just the worst thing in the world,” Morikawa said afterwards.

The injury was a sense of déjà vu for Morikawa, who had suffered similar issues at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and the 2023 Memorial. On the contrary, McIlroy’s physical struggle began just a few days ago during a workout at the Arnold Palmer Invitational when he tried a “hinge” exercise but accidentally pushed his lower back way too far. This marked his first mid-tournament withdrawal since 2013, which was due to dental pain at the Honda Classic.