World number one Rory McIlroy is starting at 12 weeks on the sideline after rupturing ligaments in his left ankle.
That’s according to former European Tour physio Jonathan Shrewsbury and who still enjoys a very strong link working with Tour players including victorious 2014 European Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley.
It means the World No. 1 missing this week’s Scottish Open, the defence next week of his Open Championship crown along with the defence of the WGC – Bridgestone Invitational and following week’s PGA Championship.
As well, McIlroy is now is doubt for the lucrative PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Play-Off Series.
Shrewsbury was contacted by Reuters on the advice of www.golfbytourmiss.com and with Shrewsbury indicating to Reuters the normal recovery time was three months.
Jonathon Shrewsbury with Ryder Cup captain, Paul McGinley.
“Rory is really up against it to play in the Open,” the Englishman explained. “He’s going to have to walk around seven or eight miles a day.
“It’s hard, a really hard links course, and that’s going to take its toll.
“The other thing is the confidence of being able to hit through the ball. As he comes into the follow through he is going to be rolling his ankle over and that is going to pose significant challenges.”
Shrewsbury, who worked for the European Tour between 1992-2001, now runs a centre on the outskirts of London helping a range of elite sports professionals.
While he believes McIlroy is unlikely to be fully fit to defend the Claret Jug he won for the first time a year ago, Shrewsbury says the four-times major champion will benefit from having treatment morning, noon and night.
“It’s a very, very common injury, many people go through this, from the weekend warrior to elite sports people. It’s normally around a 12-week recovery,” he added.
“Rory may be a superman on the golf course but he is going to heal pretty much at the same rate as anyone else. The one thing he does have to his advantage is that he has a team who can treat him pretty much around the clock.
A very sorry sight! World No. 1 Rory McIlroy on crutches. (Photo – Rory McIlroy)
“The normal average person can’t ice around the clock as Rory can, in order to get the swelling, the bruising and the pain under control,” said Shrewsbury.
“He will have a team of people around him who can work really consistently with him and that is going to limit the amount of time he is away from the game.”
When on the Tour Shrewsbury worked with former major champions Nick Faldo and Mark O’Meara to help them fight back from injury and says new technology may play a key role for McIlroy.
“While Rory has an aircast boot on, which is there to stabilise the ankle and give it rest and support, he is able to do other exercise,” said the 45-year-old Shrewsbury.
“He can still go to the gym, do upper body weights, work on core support. Ten or 15 years ago he would have been put in plaster.
“With one of those boots on they can take it out and treat the injury every couple of hours. It’s a massive advantage to him.”
Shrewsbury said it would be “absolute nonsense” to criticise McIlroy for getting injured playing football.
“Most of the guys I have worked with over the years, if you threw a football on to the driving range at a European Tour event, quite a few would want to give it a kick around,” he added.
“At what point do you wrap him up in cotton wool? They have to blow off some steam, he’s a young person. This is such an innocuous thing that has happened. He could have done it stepping off a kerb.
“It’s a bit unfair for people to point the finger at Rory and say he should not be doing this. It would be very harsh to criticise him,” said Shrewsbury.
“The physios will just pick up the pieces and get him as quick as possible.”
* Exclusive story thanks to Reuters.
