Rory McIlroy's Friday tee times and pairing for the 2023 Tour Championship explored

Rory McIlroy finished in a three-way tie for seventh place after the open round of the 2023 Tour Championship with Jon Rahm and Matt Fitzpatrick.

The Northern Irish golfer played an even par round of 70 after making four birdies and four bogeys to finish three strokes behind the tournament inaugural round leaders Viktor Hovland, Collin Morikawa, and Keegan Bradley. McIlroy will resume his play on Friday, August 25 at the East Lakes Golf Course with Matt Fitzpatrick at 1:27 p.m. ET.

Rory McIlroy, who already qualified to represent the Europe team at the Ryder Cup, suffered a back injury while he was exercising earlier this week. He had not practiced this week but still managed to score four birdies in the first round of the 2023 Tour Championship.

The World No.2 told BBC about his injury:

"My whole lower back spasmed, seized up. I couldn't move. I honestly couldn't address the ball this time yesterday. So to get to where I am today is good."

The 2023 Tour Championship will start with the second round at 11:26 am ET with Nick Taylor and Emiliano Grillo taking the first shot of the day followed by Sungjae Im and Taylor Moore. English golfer Tommy Fleetwood will start his game with Jordan Spieth at 11:48 am ET while Si Woo Kim will pair up with Tony Finau to tee off at 11:59 am ET.

Rickie Fowler and Patrick Cantlay will take their first shot on Friday at 12:43 pm ET followed by Brian Harman and Tom Kim. The tournament leaders Collin Morikawa and Keegan Bradley will take the last shot of the day at 2:00 p.m. ET while Viktor Hovland will again pair up with current World No.1 golfer Scottie Scheffler and will tee off at 1:49 p.m. ET.

The open-round leader Collin Morikawa displayed a spectacular performance on Thursday. He played a bogey-free round to raise his score from -1 to -10. He carded seven birdies and an amazing eagle on the par-5 sixth hole. Bradley also played a bogey-free round with seven birdies while Hovland only added -2 to his score to top the leaderboard.

2023 Tour Championship round 2 tee times

Here are the tee times for the second round of the 2023 Tour Championship (All time in ET):

11:26 a.m. — Nick Taylor, Emiliano Grillo
11:37 a.m. — Sungjae Im, Taylor Moore
11:48 a.m. — Tommy Fleetwood, Jordan Spieth
11:59 a.m. — Si Woo Kim, Tony Finau
12:10 p.m. — Lucas Glover, Corey Conners
12:21 p.m. — Sam Burns, Max Homa
12:32 p.m. — Sepp Straka, Jason Day
12:43 p.m. — Rickie Fowler, Patrick Cantlay
12:54 p.m. — Brian Harman, Tom Kim
1:05 p.m. — Xander Schauffele, Wyndham Clark
1:16 p.m. — Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton
1:27 p.m. — Matt Fitzpatrick, Rory McIlroy
1:38 p.m. — Adam Schenk, Russell Henley
1:49 p.m. — Viktor Hovland, Scottie Scheffler
2:00 p.m. — Collin Morikawa, Keegan Bradley