Rory McIlroy had ‘zero prep’ for ‘strange’ players. Can he cut?

This time last year, Rory McIlroy was in the midst of a difficult stretch that saw him win the Players Championship (after winning at Pebble Beach), then head to Augusta and close out a career Grand Slam at the Masters.

A year later, the picture is very different. McIlroy himself struggled to make the cut after the opening round which he described as “strange.”

Even worse, he admitted he had “zero prep” to defend his title at TPC Sawgrass. But he also revealed that despite all this, he still thinks he still has a chance to win the historic Players Championship title this week, let alone win it.

An injured Rory McIlroy fights for the Players, staring at the cut line

One of the more interesting plot lines of the second round of The Players revolves around McIlroy. The defending champion is battling a back injury he suffered at the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week.

He did not arrive at TPC Sawgrass until Wednesday, did not play a practice round and indicated that his entry into the tournament would be a “game time” decision.

When his tee time came Thursday afternoon, McIlroy decided to give it a shot. But he didn’t seem to “have it” in Round 1. The reigning Masters champion made three bogeys against one birdie in a two-over 74.

Only the top 65 players (and ties) will make the Players cut and play on the weekend. So McIlroy has work to do to keep his title defense alive.

He plays in Round 2 on Friday at 8:52 am ET.

‘Unbelievably rusty’ McIlroy still thinks he can win The Players

After his disappointing opening round, McIlroy stood up to a scrum of media and reporters and explained in detail how little practice he had led to the players due to his back injury.

“Yeah, I’ve prepared well. I hit about 30 golf balls yesterday and I went to tee off the last six holes last night,” McIlroy shared Thursday evening.

But he also explained that he felt happier than he thought he would, because he had played an under-par round a week ago at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

“It’s weird, obviously I played on Friday; it’s not like I took a ton of time off,” McIlroy said. “But I felt unbelievably rusty out there.”

Despite that, he was satisfied that he got through the remaining 18 holes.

“I’m glad I finished the round. Hopefully tonight will go well and I’ll be out tomorrow, and I was just trying to get back to the level of the day in those nine games. I just couldn’t get there.”

Despite his injuries and a battle ahead of him to make the cut, McIlroy has a different goal for Friday’s round and beyond.

He has a third victory for the players on his mind.

“But starting with a couple of birdie opportunities tomorrow in the back, so like I said, try to get it back to par, and honestly, I don’t feel like I’m that far off,” McIlroy said. “No one really went down this afternoon, which I expected, just because the conditions weren’t great. So, yeah, if I can go out and have a good shot tomorrow, I feel like I’ll be there for the weekend.”