Rory McIlroy Breaks Silence on Sudden Withdrawal From Arnold Palmer Invitational
Fresh off of a four-under, 68 on Friday afternoon, Rory McIlroy found himself right back in the hunt at the Arnold Palmer Invitational with the entire weekend left to play.
He entered the weekend a full nine shots back of leader Daniel Berger, but McIlroy is a past champion at the event and was playing well heading into the weekend. "Playing" being the operative word because McIlroy's event is already over.
On the morning of Saturday, March 7 the grand slam winner suddenly withdrew from the event.
Rory McIlroy Reveals Reason for His Withdrawal
The star golfer revealed he felt a "small twinge" in his back while warming up in the gym on Saturday morning and the pain eventually worsened into muscle spasms, which forced the five-time major winner to drop out of the event.
While warming up in the gym this morning, I felt a small twinge in my back. As I started hitting balls on the range before the round, it worsened and developed into muscle spasms in my lower back," he said in a statement on Saturday.
Statement from Rory McIlroy:
— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) March 7, 2026
“While warming up in the gym this morning, I felt a small twinge in my back. As I started hitting balls on the range before the round, it worsened and developed into muscle spasms in my lower back. Unfortunately, I’m not able to continue and have to… https://t.co/fYnbytqW5u
"Unfortunately, I’m not able to continue and have to withdraw. I was excited to compete this weekend. I wish the Arnold Palmer Invitational a great finish and look forward to being back next year," he added.
Austin Smotherman, who bogeyed three of his first five holes on Saturday morning, also withdrew from the tournament during the middle of his third round.
Berger enters the weekend five shots ahead of Akshay Bhatia, who fired a six-under, 66 on Friday to move to eight-under for the tournament.
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