McIlroy may miss FedEx Cup

Rory McIlroy says he may not play again until 2018 as he seeks to regain full fitness from the rib and back injuries that has blighted his season.

The 28-year-old was never in contention during this weekend's USA PGA Championships at Quail Hollow, which was won by Justin Thomas of the United States.

The world number four, who has now gone three seasons without a major victory, needs to win the Masters to complete a career grand slam, following wins at the US Open in 2011, the PGA Championship in 2012, and his Open and PGA Championship titles in 2014.

McIlroy took six weeks off to rest the injuries after the South African Open in January and also missed the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth and the Memorial Tournament.

But the Northern Ireland golfer, who still feels discomfort after swinging a club, says he will discuss with sports scientist Steve McGregor about whether to opt out of defending his FedEx Cup title and focus on getting his body right for Augusta in April.

"You might not see me until next year. You might see me in a couple of weeks' time. It really depends," he said.

"I have upped my practice coming into these two events because I wanted to feel like I was in a good place in my game. 

"I can go out there and play and shoot decent scores, but when I come off the course I feel my left rhomboid going into spasm.

"The inside of my left arm goes numb. So I don't know what to do. I have got this next week off to assess what I need to go forward."

McIlroy, who began the week 43rd in the FedEx Cup rankings, needs to be in the top 30 to qualify for the season-ending Tour Championship at the end of September.

The four-time major winner will need to play in Northern Trust Open on 24 August or the Dell Technologies Championship the following week to gather the ranking points he needed to defend his title.

"I feel like I'm capable of playing well enough to give myself a chance in it," McIlroy said of the FedEx Cup. 

"At the same time, April is a long way away. That's the next big thing on my radar.

"I feel like I have a sense of, not duty, but I've missed a lot of time already. If I'm capable of playing, I feel like why shouldn't you.

"But then at the same time if you are not capable of playing at your best, why should you play? It's a Catch-22."

Photo Getty Images/ Warren Little

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