Rory is trying to take whatever positives he can out of his ankle ligament injury.
The majority of questions thrown Rory McIlroy’s way, following his final practice round at Whistling Straits, were regarding the ankle he damaged, last month.
The world number one snapped an ankle ligament while playing a friendly game with friends and, as a result, missed the chance to defend his Open championship at St. Andrews.
McIlroy is back, though, and looked comfortable enough during his practice rounds at the Wisconsin course.
However, the 26-year-old has revealed that the injury has forever altered his ankle.
‘Any time I go back home, one of the things that I regularly do with my friends is play football,’ he said.
‘That was like the fourth or fifth time in a 10-day period where I had played football. I enjoy it. We all enjoy it.
‘And it’s unfortunate that it happened. It can happen walking off a tee box. It can happen falling off a curb on the side of the street. It can happen doing anything. And unfortunately, my foot just got stuck on the turf and went over on it.’
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McIlroy continued:
‘That ligament that I ruptured, I don’t have that anymore. So I’ve only got two ligaments on the outside of my ankle instead of three. That ligament is basically just scar tissue now.
‘So it’s just about trying to strengthen the ankle and maintain as much integrity in it as possible.
‘For the rest of my career it’s going to be a matter of maybe doing a few extra single leg stuff in the gym and rubber cushion stuff just to maintain the integrity of the ankle.’
Asked if he would ever consider shelving the kickabouts with friends, McIlroy replied, ‘Not at all. I might take some precautionary measures next time… maybe wear ankle braces on both ankles.
‘But apart from that, I’m not going to stop doing what I do.
‘I enjoy that part of my life, I enjoy having that normality in my life, something that I’ve done since I was a kid and I won’t stop doing that, no.’
Kick on Rory. Kick. On.
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