'I Felt Like I Had A Little More Speed' - McIlroy Provides Injury Update At Tour Championship

Rory McIlroy continued to battle an ongoing back injury during the second round of the Tour Championship, but offered up some optimism over any long-term concerns for his fitness.

McIlroy suffered a back spasm prior to the tournament starting which left him unable to address the ball on Wednesday prior to the first round. The Northern Irishman recorded a level-par round on Thursday though, before continuing his fightback with a three-under-par 67 on Friday at East Lake.

The defending FedEx Cup champion sits six shots off the lead, which is shared by the in-form Viktor Hovland and America's Collin Morikawa, with McIlroy admitting that his back problems continue to hamper his capabilities on the course.

"I felt like I had a little more speed," he said speaking after his second round in Atlanta. "I was probably half a club off my numbers (rather) than maybe a full club yesterday. I can't hit the ball left-to-right and I can't swing my irons the way I want to. I can't turn my right side through the ball. So, from the top of the swing, I'm just sort of throwing my arms at it and it's a lot of face rotation and I can only really hit it one way with the irons.

"I can't hit the driver the way I usually do. Like, teeing it up I'm teeing it down and just hitting a sort of flat little runner down there. So, yeah, look, a little limited to the shots that I can hit, but I'm getting by."

With the Ryder Cup just over a month away, there may have been some concern at first for the 34-year-old's fitness, but McIlroy allayed such concerns and intends to still compete over the weekend as he eyes up his fourth FedEx Cup title.

"I still wanted to give it a go," he added. "I felt like if I could get through yesterday I was just hoping that each day it would get progressively better. I would say it got a touch better today in terms of being able to just put a little bit more speed into the swing. 

"But I played yesterday and it certainly doesn't feel any worse today, so at least I know I'm not doing any damage or I don't necessarily think that by me playing it's going to get worse. It's just a matter of doing the right things away from the golf course to make sure that it gradually gets a little better."

McIlroy will take a week off after the Tour Championship but is still set to compete in the Irish Open and the BMW Championship before the Ryder Cup at Marco Simone.