Thursday 28 September 2017 10:11, UK
Rory McIlroy feels he has been "playing catch-up" at a number of tournaments this year as his troublesome back injury has restricted his practice.
McIlroy suffered a rib-joint problem back in January that forced him to take a seven-week lay-off, and he aggravated the injury during the Players Championship in May which prompted another spell on the sidelines.
The world No 6 admitted at the PGA Championship that the injury had not subsided throughout the season, and that he was unable to devote as much time to practice as he felt he needed.
The 28-year-old remains without a victory this year and has just two events remaining to break the drought, starting at this week's British Masters supported by Sky Sports, a tournament he committed to after failing to qualify for the Tour Championship.
"I don't feel like I can go out there all day and practice," said McIlroy, who will also play in next week's Alfred Dunhill Links Championship before taking an extended winter break to focus on regaining full fitness.
"I feel at some point, I'd have to take a bit of time to let it rest, and I can feel it sort of stiffening up and getting a little bit sore. It's not as if I can go full bore at it like I want to.
"But hopefully by giving it that six-week or eight-week rest, I'll be able to fully practice and prepare, and as I said at the start, not feel like I'm playing catch-up at every tournament, because I feel like I haven't been able to do the preparation that will allow me to play my best golf.
"I'm looking forward to just getting myself right, getting myself healthy, and then being able to practice as much as I want and feel prepared going into each and every tournament, instead of feeling like I'm playing catch-up all the time."
Asked about his current level of fitness, he added: "It's hard to put a percentage on it. I feel actually okay after a week off. I did a bit of practice over the weekend in the Bahamas and then I flew in here and did a full day's work and felt okay this morning.
"So I feel okay, but it's the week off and then I know I'll feel it a bit more after the Dunhill, so then it's just I haven't given it that time. Since I came back after the US Open, I haven't given myself time to fully settle down.
"I just haven't given myself that little more prolonged length of time to let it fully heal and let it feel 100 per cent. I actually don't feel that far away and I feel better now than I did starting the FedExCup Play-offs, so that's a good thing, and that hopefully bodes well for these next few weeks in terms of rehab.
"I might not hit balls until the end of November. I might bring that a few weeks forward and I can start to practice a bit earlier, which would be great. It's just about giving it that adequate length of time."
McIlroy is playing in the British Masters for the first time since 2008, his second year as a professional, and he is delighted to support tournament host Lee Westwood at Close House this week.
"Lee actually asked me at Sergio's wedding back in July if I was thinking of playing, and at that point, I wasn't thinking of playing as I was hoping to be in the Tour Championship last week and sort of taking this week off and then playing the Dunhill next week," he said.
"But obviously I didn't make the Tour Championship, so needed to add one more in, and this was the obvious one. I'm happy to be here and happy to support Lee, he's been a good friend of mine for a lot of years.
"It's great to see the turnout, not just for this tournament, but for him, as well. It sort of shows the place that we all hold Lee in and the regard that we hold him in. He's been great for European golf over the years, and I think to see Sergio here and myself and a lot of the other guys show up, it speaks volumes about Lee."
