{"id":33467,"date":"2026-03-07T14:19:34","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T19:19:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/star-golfer-rory-mcilroy-exits-tournament-due-to-back-injury\/"},"modified":"2026-03-07T14:19:34","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T19:19:34","slug":"star-golfer-rory-mcilroy-exits-tournament-due-to-back-injury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/star-golfer-rory-mcilroy-exits-tournament-due-to-back-injury\/","title":{"rendered":"Star Golfer Rory McIlroy Exits Tournament Due to Back Injury"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n

Professional golfer Rory McIlroy was forced to exit the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Saturday morning due to a back injury, according to PGA Tour officials.<\/p>

The 36-year-old golfer made the decision to leave the Florida tournament at Bay Hill approximately half an hour before he was set to begin the third round, officials reported.<\/p>

This marks only the second time McIlroy has left a PGA Tour event early, with his first withdrawal occurring at the 2013 Cognizant Classic. The accomplished golfer has secured 29 victories on the PGA Tour throughout his career and is set to return to TPC Sawgrass next week to defend his championship title at The Players Championship.<\/p>

McIlroy has dealt with back problems before, experiencing lower right back spasms in 2023 prior to the Tour Championship. During that incident, his back locked up while he was stretching at his residence, though he ultimately decided to participate in the tournament despite the discomfort.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Professional golfer Rory McIlroy was forced to leave the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Florida on Saturday morning due to a back injury. The 36-year-old withdrew just 30 minutes before his scheduled tee time for the third round.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":33466,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[836],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/news-1772911174518.jpg?fit=450%2C300&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbtNqq-8HN","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":65801,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/golf-star-mcilroy-cuts-practice-short-at-pga-championship-due-to-toe-injury\/","url_meta":{"origin":33467,"position":0},"title":"Golf Star McIlroy Cuts Practice Short at PGA Championship Due to Toe Injury","author":"Admin","date":"May 13, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Professional golfer Rory McIlroy abbreviated his Tuesday practice session at the PGA Championship after playing only three holes due to a painful blister on his toe. 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