Rory McIlroy continued to battle an ongoing back injury during the second round of the Tour Championship, but offered up some optimism over any long-term concerns for his fitness.
McIlroy suffered a back spasm prior to the tournament starting which left him unable to address the ball on Wednesday prior to the first round. The Northern Irishman recorded a level-par round on Thursday though, before continuing his fightback with a three-under-par 67 on Friday at East Lake.
The defending FedEx Cup champion sits six shots off the lead, which is shared by the in-form Viktor Hovland and America's Collin Morikawa, with McIlroy admitting that his back problems continue to hamper his capabilities on the course.
"I felt like I had a little more speed," he said speaking after his second round in Atlanta. "I was probably half a club off my numbers (rather) than maybe a full club yesterday. I can't hit the ball left-to-right and I can't swing my irons the way I want to. I can't turn my right side through the ball. So, from the top of the swing, I'm just sort of throwing my arms at it and it's a lot of face rotation and I can only really hit it one way with the irons.
"I can't hit the driver the way I usually do. Like, teeing it up I'm teeing it down and just hitting a sort of flat little runner down there. So, yeah, look, a little limited to the shots that I can hit, but I'm getting by."
With the Ryder Cup just over a month away, there may have been some concern at first for the 34-year-old's fitness, but McIlroy allayed such concerns and intends to still compete over the weekend as he eyes up his fourth FedEx Cup title.
"I still wanted to give it a go," he added. "I felt like if I could get through yesterday I was just hoping that each day it would get progressively better. I would say it got a touch better today in terms of being able to just put a little bit more speed into the swing.
"But I played yesterday and it certainly doesn't feel any worse today, so at least I know I'm not doing any damage or I don't necessarily think that by me playing it's going to get worse. It's just a matter of doing the right things away from the golf course to make sure that it gradually gets a little better."
McIlroy will take a week off after the Tour Championship but is still set to compete in the Irish Open and the BMW Championship before the Ryder Cup at Marco Simone.
