Rory McIlroy Downplays Back Injury, Says He'll Be 'Totally Fine' for 2023 Ryder Cup

Rory McIlroy told reporters he isn't fully recovered from his lower back injury but said he'll be "totally fine" to participate in upcoming events on his schedule, per Sky Sports.

McIlroy will play in the Horizon Irish Open this week before participating in the BMW PGA Championship next week. He'll then be headed to Italy for the Ryder Cup beginning Sept. 29.

The 34-year-old said the following when asked if there were concerns about fitness headed into this stretch:

"No, not at all. I've had much worse [injuries]. I had much worse back issues when I was 21, so this is fine. This is a bit of tightness, a bit of a muscle spasm.

"This is nothing compared to some I've had. I've had a herniated disc, and I've had stuff that would be a lot more worrying than this is, and I've got really good people around me that know what to do. It's fine. It's totally fine. I maybe don't heal quite as fast as I used to, but it's all good.

"I would say it's at 90 percent, 95 percent. It's not 100 percent better. I just happened to take care of it a little bit, but it's not preventing me from doing anything I want to do. Just being a little mindful, I guess."

McIlroy suffered the injury ahead of the Tour Championship. He still fared well, tying for 11th in the 30-person field in strokes. McIlroy ended fourth overall given the head start gained due to FedExCup Starting Strokes.

Overall, this has been a good year for McIlroy, who won the Scottish Open and finished second at the U.S. Open. McIlroy also carded top-seven finishes at the PGA Championship and Open Championship.

He'll now look to finish the year off strong beginning this week at the Irish Open.