Rory McIlroy has revealed details of the rib injury that may spell the end of his season.
The Co Down golfer spoke to reporters after his final round of the PGA Championship, where he finished with a three-under-par round of 68 to end on one over for the tournament.
The four-time major winner has been far from his best over the last year as he struggled with the injury he picked up in the close season, and has admitted to rushing back before regaining full fitness.
"An injury like this, it's eight full weeks of rest before you start to rehab it and then you go again," he told reporters.
"I felt like we took as much time as we needed to at the start of the year. That was basically seven or eight weeks.
"Got back and playing it felt okay through the Masters. I switched it off for a couple of weeks because I was getting married, going on honeymoon.
"Then once I started practicing again, I didn't build up the volume gradually.
Rory McIlroy talks about injury that could keep him out the rest of the year. @FOX46News pic.twitter.com/xFZsWBcXF0
— Josh Sims (@JoshFox46) August 13, 2017
"I went from zero to hitting balls from three or four hours a day. That aggravated it a little bit. I just haven't it allowed it the time to fully heal.
"I wanted to play the season. I feel like I'm capable of playing well and winning and putting rounds together. If I want to challenge on a more consistent basis, I need to get 100 per cent healthy."
There are six events left on the PGA tour, including two where McIlroy is the defending champion.
Asked how his body was feeling after the round, he replied: "Right now I can feel my left rhomboid [back muscle] going into spasm.
"It's sort of the way it has been the last few weeks. I have upped my practice coming into these two events because I wanted to feel like I was in a good place in my game.
"But, yeah, right now it's a tough one because I go out there and play and shoot decent scores, but when I come off the course, I feel my left rhomboid going into spasm.
"Inside of my left arm goes numb. So I don't know what to do. I have got this next week off to assess what I need to go forward.
"[The pain is] not as bad. Nor near as bad as The Players [championship] when it really sort of flared up on me. It's there. I can feel it.
"So it's there and I can play 18 holes, as I said, I warm it up, it's okay.
"But once I get done, having to go through the whole routine of getting it ready to go again the next day, you shouldn't have to do that. If I was injury-free, that wouldn't happen.
The 28-year-old added that he wasn't in a position to confirm his schedule for the near future.
"Look, I don't know what I'm going to do," he said.
"You might not see me until next year. You might see me in a couple of weeks’ time. It really depends."
