Rory McIlroy's defense of the Open Championship is in serious doubt today as the world number one is on the mend.
McIlroy announced today that he has a "total rupture" in his ankle after playing soccer with some friends in Northern Ireland. McIlroy made his announcement by posting a picture of himself on crutches and a walking boot on Instagram.
"Continuing to assess extent of injury and treatment plan day by day," McIlroy wrote on his post. "Rehab already started..... Working hard to get back as soon as I can."
McIlroy has officially withdrawn from this week's Scottish Open, and a member of his management company told CNN that there is a "10 percent chance" that Rory will be defending his title at the Old Course in two weeks. According to Dr. James Gladstone, co-director of sports medicine at Mt. Sinai Hospital, recovery time of this kind of injury can take somewhere between ten days and six weeks. If it closer to a six week time table, his defense of the PGA Championship could be in doubt, as well.
The injury could not have come at a worse time for McIlroy, who was considered a heavy favorite to defend the Claret Jug. The last time the Open was held at St. Andrews, McIlroy shot a first round 63 on his way to a T-3 finish. Given the way the course is set up and how McIlroy plays his game, he would have been a perfect fit for that course.
There will be plenty of second guessing by people on the outside, but McIlroy is still a young man. Nobody can expect him to stay in a bubble and not have fun once and a while. These kinds of fluke injuries can happen doing anything. Hopefully Rory will recover and move on from this incident.