Rory McIlroy sure looks like he's playing in the PGA Championship

Five weeks ago, Rory McIlroy wrecked his ankle playing soccer with his mates, an injury that kept him from playing the British Open at St. Andrews. At the time, no one knew how serious the injury was, and McIlroy kept his silence. Would he miss defending his title at the PGA Championship, which begins Aug. 13? Would the world's No. 1 golfer be out until 2016? Sure, we have Jordan Spieth to watch, and sometimes Dustin Johnson, but a major without Rory in the field is an ever-so-slightly diminished one.

Then came the hints. First, there was the trick-shot video at Whistling Straits. Then came the hardcore workout video on Wednesday:

Followed by a bit of too-much-information nastiness on Thursday:

Then a curious tweet early Friday morning:

And finally, this revelation, courtesy of the PGA itself, on Friday afternoon:

Yep, that's ol' Rory himself, pairing up with this year's major winners in Jordan Spieth (Masters, U.S. Open) and Zach Johnson (British Open). Boy, if he's not coming back, he's got a bit of explaining to do.

Granted, it's not like McIlroy has been gone for any real length of time. But the St. Andrews course played to his strengths, and he almost surely would have been in contention right up until the final putts had he been healthy. Plus, Spieth has won two majors and came within a stroke of possibly winning a third. Since McIlroy won last year's PGA, Spieth has emerged as a fully legitimate rival to his No. 1 status. If Rory is able to play at a decent percentage of his usual talent, this will be a fine way to close out one of the best majors seasons in golf history.

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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter.

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