The onset of a debilitating back injury at the grand old age of 20 might seem a bewildering and disheartening twist of outrageous fortune, but for Rory McIlroy it's nothing new - the Northern Irishman has suffered back pains since he was a teenager.
According to McIlroy's manager, Chubby Chandler, McIlroy has stretched ligaments in his lower back, the cause of which would appear to be the Ulsterman's swing. While golf is clearly a less physically strenuous sport then many others, any series of repetitive actions can take its toll on the body. And when McIlroy complains of pain in his back on bending down to pick up a ball, it's clear that the kid from Holywood has suffered for his art.
Question is, with problems at such an early age, will McIlroy be able to fulfil his promise? Will the current world No. 8 be able to shake off any physical impediments to challenge for golf's most desirable prizes?
The player himself is adamant that the problems with his back are an unimportant distraction, rather than a threat to his career. After seeing a specialist last week, McIlroy was cleared to play at the WGC Match Play Championship in Arizona this week. And his practice sessions earlier this week appeared to go without a hitch, at least on the face of it.
"In the motion of swinging a golf club, it's fine," said McIlroy. "But it's like picking the ball out of the hole and teeing the ball up and stuff - I just have to think about what way I have to do it."
"But it's not painful. It's just - it's like a niggle. It's hard to describe. You can feel it's there, but it doesn't affect me in any way during my golf swing."
It's not as if the mop-topped McIlroy has had to pull out of any tournaments - at this year's Dubai Desert Classic a few weeks back, McIlroy finished tied for sixth place, despite suffering some pain. But the 20-year-old says he's suffered problems since 2007 when he was competing in the Walker Cup - and his description of problems picking up a ball bring to mind the image of some hoary old veteran on his last legs, rather than golf's youthful saviour. Could a change in McIlroy's swing alleviate the problems?
"I can't [make the change]. I've done this since I was two years old. I can't really, I can't stop doing that movement. But I only do it with my driver and my longer clubs. It doesn't happen with say from five iron onwards."
McIlroy has said that he will need to limit the amount of tournaments he plays in order to avoid aggravating the problem. But on paper, the player has a packed schedule for 2010, contesting both the European and PGA Tours. Taking time out to recover between tournaments could well hurt McIlroy's chances of seriously competing for the Race to Dubai, the honour he came so close to taking last year before Lee Westwood saw off his challenge at the Dubai World Championship in November.
And as the player himself acknowledges, sometimes consistent play will be unavoidable. Here's McIlroy again: "I suppose [I need to] manage my schedule so I'm not playing three or four weeks in a row, even though at the end of the year I'll have to with hopefully the FedEx Cup and Ryder Cup and everything."
McIlroy has suggested that whatever problems bedevil his back, as yet they haven't had a negative effect on his play. But while that's good news for those who want to see Rory grab glory at this week's tournament, those taking the longer view may be right to be concerned for the man who Gary Player says can eventually replace Tiger Woods as the best in the world. That's if he can stay out of the knacker's yard, right Gary?
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