Rory McIlroy will see how ‘body feels’ and assess schedule before Masters | Rory McIlroy

Rory McIlroy will consider whether to play another event before defending his Masters title next month after a disappointing outing at the Players Championship. He was the defending champion at TPC Sawgrass, but his preparation was hampered by a back injury and he finished in a disappointing tie for 46th on Sunday.

“I’m going to see how my body feels,” the world number 2 said. “We’ll see how I feel in training and at home and if I have itchy feet at home, maybe I’ll add an event at some point.

“It was important to have the weekend here and play a few extra days. I’m happy to have had four days and my body feels good. My game got a little better as the week went on, although the scores probably didn’t reflect it over the weekend.

“See how next week goes, see how once I get back to a full training program and the gym and stuff like that, see how my body responds to that, and then I’ll see.”