Rory McIlroy reportedly suffering from lower-back injury, still set to play at East Lake

ATLANTA – As world No. 2 Rory McIlroy takes aim at his fourth FedExCup title, it appears he’s doing so with an injury to his lower back.

According to Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis, the Northern Irishman injured his lower back while home in Jupiter, Florida, earlier this week. McIlroy returned home after competing at the BMW Championship, where he finished fourth.

"I've been able to focus a little bit more just on golf and my game and even able to take two days at home between Chicago and here, getting to spend some time with the girls," McIlroy stated during his press conference on Wednesday at East Lake.

“It’s a muscular issue,” Lewis wrote in a social media post Thursday morning. “This morning he arrived at East Lake, received treatment, and hit 20 ball(s) which was the first time he hit balls this week. He will tee it up today for (TOUR Championship) but may have discomfort.”

The 34-year-old McIlroy is looking for back-to-back wins at East Lake, where he also won in 2016 and 2019. Last year, he overcame a six-stroke deficit on Sunday to beat Scottie Scheffler and hoist his third FedExCup trophy. He has two wins on the season, capturing titles at the Genesis Scottish Open in July and THE CJ CUP in South Carolina last October.

He comes into East Lake ranked No. 3 in the FedExCup, his highest starting position since the FedExCup Starting Strokes format was introduced in 2019. He's set to tee off Thursday with Jon Rahm, FedExCup No. 4, at 1:49 p.m. ET.