The news is not-so-hot for the world’s second-ranked golfer.
Rory McIlroy’s Monday MRI revealed that he did not have any back-related issues. He has suffered a rib stress-fracture.
Bad news for Rory is that the only option is rest. He could miss up to six weeks while he waits for the process to happen.
Immediate impact on his schedule is that he will miss this week’s HSBC event in Abu Dhabi. He will also miss a start in the Dubai Desert Classic on February 2-5.
The L.A. Open (Genesis) was on his schedule for Feb. 16-19 and now that’s probably out.
The Honda Classic at PGA National which is just 15 minutes from Rory’s intercoastal pad in Jupiter, will be played Feb. 23-26 and that may be out of the picture as well.
If he takes the entire six weeks, and you’d figure he still wants to try and be ready for the Masters in April, then the earliest he might return would be the WGC event in Mexico which will be played March 2-5. The WGC Match Play event is March 22-26 and the guy who wins that ends up playing six rounds in four days.
So when will Rory be back?
It’s up to the ribs.
