Rory McIlroy suffered a back injury at the Arnold Palmer Invitational – one that forced him to withdraw at Bay Hill.

McIlroy’s back issue has clearly affected him this week at The Players Championship, and he’s sitting in a tie for 57th with one round remaining at TPC Sawgrass.

The 36-year-old from Northern Ireland definitely hasn’t had his best stuff in Ponte Vedra Beach this week and everything has looked like a real struggle for him.

McIlroy never got started in his first round of The Players Championship and he has been unable to string together a sustained run of pars and birdies throughout all three days at TPC Sawgrass so far.

After his first round, McIlroy admitted his game felt ‘unbelievably rusty’ at The Players Championship.

That’s hardly a surprise given the fact that he didn’t turn up to Sawgrass until the day before the tournament started.

Rory McIlroy responds to ‘preposterous’ suggestions about his back injury

The five-time major champion didn’t play a practice round and only managed to hit up to a 6-iron on the driving range on Wednesday.

Although he said his back felt fine, he obviously hasn’t been at his explosive best in Ponte Vedra Beach this week.

McIlroy isn’t the only one who has been struggling with back injuries recently.

Collin Morikawa was forced to withdraw from The Players after just one hole of his first round, while Sahith Theegala, Billy Horschel and Justin Thomas have all experienced back problems recently as well.

It has been suggested that it is no coincidence that players competing regularly in TGL are the ones who are suffering with back injuries.

McIlroy was questioned about TGL potentially causing players injuries, when speaking to The Palm Beach Post.

“It’s a little more travel for the guys, a little more,“ said McIlroy.

“To put it solely on that is preposterous. No.

“My ball speed on Tour is way faster than it is in TGL.“

Rory McIlroy’s latest back injury update

McIlroy chose not to speak to reporters after his third round at TPC Sawgrass on Saturday morning.

As a result, the latest update we have from the Northern Irishman is from Friday.

“No, because I’m a little more upright with the driver with the longer stuff,“ he said.

“It’s more when I get over it. So chipping yesterday or like when the ball was below my feet is when I — not that I felt it, but it was more — it was okay.

“It was just like I had a hard time trusting it, more so than anything else.

“But today it was, you know, I think having a day where I was like, okay, that was fine, I didn’t really feel anything, I woke up this morning felt fine, so, yeah.“

When he has finished his final round at The Players on Sunday, McIlroy’s attention will switch to resting up and ensuring that his back is in full working order, with The Masters now less than four weeks away.