Rory McIlroy will make a last‑^­minute call on Thursday over whether to defend his Players Championship title, with the Northern Irishman still feeling the effects of a weekend back injury. McIlroy will wait until his pre-round range session to determine whether he is fit enough to play.

McIlroy arrived here on Wednesday afternoon, having withdrawn shortly before his third round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He hit shots for around an hour before walking the back nine with wedge and putter in hand. McIlroy sustained a muscle problem in the gym on ­Saturday morning, which left him basically inactive for three days.

“I’m taking it hour by hour, but it feels better,” he said. “I couldn’t stand to address the ball on Saturday morning on the range at Bay Hill and it’s better than that.

“So probably a game-time decision but all indications are pointing in the right direction. Hopefully I will have a good night tonight, the drugs are working wonders and then just keep it going from there.”

McIlroy said he feels “sensi­tivity” in the area as opposed to pain. His first round tee time is 1.42pm local time (5.42pm GMT) in the company of Xander Schauffele and Hideki Matsuyama. McIlroy’s recuperation could also be helped by a delay, with storms in the forecast for Ponte Vedra Beach on Thursday.

“Even just hitting balls there for a little bit, I just feel like my muscles around the area just getting a little bit fatigued,” he said. “My right adductor started to cramp a little bit. But it’s fine, it’s expected.

“I had this at the Tour ­Championship in 2023. I remember on Thursday I was in so much ­discomfort and chipping it around and got through the round. On Sunday I felt like a whole new person. So I’m hoping it starts to progress like that.”

McIlroy shrugged off his lack of preparation. “I’ve been playing here since 2009, so it’s not like I don’t know the place.”

With another defence, at Augusta National, less than a month away McIlroy said there is no ­prospect of broader damage being done by competing here. “It’s not structural. It’s purely muscular sort of discomfort and fatigue. So there’s nothing [bad] I can do, I don’t think from what I’ve been told.”

McIlroy was due to meet Brian Rolapp, the PGA Tour’s chief executive, on Monday before he was delayed. McIlroy spoke to Rolapp for an hour, before the latter held a press conference on Wednesday morning. “He’s got into this job and realised how difficult it is to turn this big ship around,” McIlroy said. “There’s a lot of cooks in the kitchen and a lot of opinions. So he’s navigating that.”