Rory McIlroy will miss next week’s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth due to an on-going rib injury.

The world number two suffered the problem in the off-season after hitting a lot of balls in practice trying to decide on new equipment after former supplier Nike decided to stop producing clubs last year.

It flared up as he lost a playoff to Graeme Storm at the BMW SA Open in January and he did not feature again until the WGC-Mexico Championship in March where he finished four shots behind winner Dustin Johnson.

The Northern Irishman resumed an active schedule but felt discomfort at the Players Championship and despite a scan revealing he has suffered no new injury, he will not now tee it up at the European Tour’s flagship event on Thursday.