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PGA Tour gamblers fuming Rory McIlroy did not reveal injury in press conference

Golf gamblers and fantasy players disgusted Rory McIlroy did not reveal his back injury during his Wednesday presser at the Tour Championship.

News only emerged of McIlroy’s back injury on Thursday afternoon, just moments before the start of McIlroy’s first round.

Unfortunately by that time, a number of golf punters had already placed wagers down on the record three-time FedEx Cup champion making it No.4 at East Lake this week.




Now before we get into the meat of this article, it does beg the question especially when it comes to responsible gambling, does McIlroy – or anyone else on the PGA Tour for that matter – really have to disclose concerns of an injury at a press conference?

That is surely the ‘gamble’ everyone takes at the end of the day?

It’s certainly up for debate at least.

Anyway, let’s dive into it…

McIlroy addressed the media ahead of the Tour Championship on Wednesday afternoon, but did not reveal any concerns about a lower back injury.

He even spoke about gambling in his presser, just to annoy frustrated punters and fantasy players that little bit more.




McIlroy was asked for his opinion on a gambler shouting out in the middle of Max Homa’s putting stroke at the BMW Championship last week.

While McIlroy wants fans to have fun outside the ropes, he does believe golf betting could end up proving something of a “slippery slope” if the PGA Tour is not careful.

McIlroy said on Wednesday:

“I think when sports betting has become more widely legalized in this country, I think it’s — we’ve talked about this at the board and the PAC level for a few years. And it is a bit of a slippery slope because I don’t think there’s any — maybe basketball and you can sit courtside, but I think it’s a different environment where people can really affect the play out here.

“So, look, as long as it’s policed the right way and as long as there’s measures put in place for hopefully things like what happened to Max Homa last Saturday not to happen, because look, we’re all for people out here having a good time and being able to put something on an outcome, but as long as they don’t feel like they can come here and influence that outcome, I think that’s important.”




McIlroy then went on to speak about his biggest pet peeve with PGA Tour fans.

But back to the original story, and after carding a respectable level-par 70 in the first round given his injury, McIlroy told a group of reporters he felt tightness in his back earlier this week on Tuesday morning.

He then said he “couldn’t move or even address the golf ball” on Wednesday, the day of his pre-tournament press conference.

McIlroy told reporters after his first round:




“So I think when I play a lot of golf, especially the end of the season, I always have to manage my right side. My right side always gets pretty tight, my rib cage, intercostals, lats, like, all the way down, right hip.

“On Tuesday morning I felt a little tight, and I went into my gym at home, and I just sort of foam-rolled and stretched. I went to grab something and my whole right side just completely seized up, spasm.

“So I spent two hours with the physio at home, flew up here, felt a little better, some treatment, then Wednesday morning still my right side was feeling better, and then went into the gym just to do some movements and stuff.

“I was at the bottom of a squat, a body-weight squat, and my whole lower back spasmed, seized up. I couldn’t move. I honestly couldn’t address the ball this time yesterday. So to get to where I am today is good.”




The World No.2 admitted to being “over the moon” to remain in the hunt for a fourth FedEx Cup given his injury setback.

McIlroy continued:

“So, yeah, I mean, I hung in there and I just felt like if I could get through today, it’s better than it was yesterday, hopefully tomorrow’s better than it was today, and just sort of try to keep progressing.

“The fact that I’m only going to be — whatever it’s going to be, like, three or four off the lead, I’m over the moon about.”

One PGA Tour winner questioned why McIlroy had not WD from the Tour Championship.

But with more history and an inflated first-prize bonus of $18m on the line for this year’s FedEx Cup champion, McIlroy said that thought never even crossed his mind.

“I was always going to tee off.”




It’s fair to say a number of golf gamblers were disgusted to only be told about McIlroy’s back injury just hours before his first-round tee-time on Thursday as wagers had already been placed on him by then.

McIlroy was as low as 9/2 to win the Tour Championship, second in the betting behind Scottie Scheffler at 6/4.

After the first round, McIlroy has now slipped back to odds of 8/1, which is very nearly double the price. Scheffler is out to 10/3.

Popular Twitter account ‘Flushing It’ came down particularly hard on McIlroy:

Here’s how a number of PGA Tour gamblers and fantasy players reacted to news of McIlroy’s back injury on Thursday:

No doubt many punters who lumped on McIlroy at short odds this week will be hoping he sorts himself out in the physio room ahead of the second round.

But then again, you know what they say…

“Beware of the injured golfer!”



Article originally appeared on: Golfmagic.com

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