Rory McIlroy balancing injury recovery with Masters preparation

The Northern Irishman withdrew from the Arnold Palmer Invitational, citing a back issue. McIlroy managed two rounds at Bay Hill before lower back spasms plagued him. That affected his preparation for The Players, where he finished tied for 46th, 13 strokes behind winner Cam Young.

Now, the question remains how he handles the weeks leading up to the Masters, which tees off at the iconic Augusta National on 9 April.

"I'll see how my body feels," the world number two told PA.

"We'll see how I feel in practice and at home and if I get itchy feet at home maybe add an event at some point.

"I feel like it was important to make the weekend here and play an extra couple of days. I'm happy I got through four days and my body feels good.

"I feel like my game sort of progressively got a little bit better as the week went on, even though the scores probably didn't reflect it over the weekend.

"But yeah, really just see how the next week goes, see how once I get back to actually a full practice schedule and in the gym and stuff like that, see how my body reacts to that, and then I'll see."

McIlroy was in good touch leading up to the Arnold Palmer, with T2 and T3 finishes at the Dubai Invitational and Genesis Invitational, respectively.

Last time around Augusta, McIlroy finally completed his long-awaited career grand slam with his fifth major championship, becoming just the sixth golfer in history to do so.