The regular season of the PGA Tour is over and is highly anticipated in the FedEx Cup playoff game on Thursday at TPC Southwind.
However, one of the biggest stars of golf and the only active professional grand slam holder will be clearly absent from one of the most competitive matches of the season.
Rory McIlroy, the 2025 Masters and three-time FedEx Cup champion, will not be in Memphis competition.
However, despite skipping the FedEx St. Jude Championship this weekend, the world No. 2 didn’t sacrifice his playoff championship chances.
The absence of the Northern Irish is indeed confusing and asks multiple questions.
In the first of just three playoff games, he still has a chance to win?
FedEx St. Jude Championship offers $15 million in wallets and has the opportunity to gain momentum – why let this opportunity slip away?
2025 new FedEx Cup Playoff Format
The 2025 FedEx playoffs will receive a new look at the Tour Championship based on their points to enter the event.
In the old format, McIlroy will start his last two strokes behind leader Scottie Scheffler, but now that advantage has gone away – so is the urgency of playing every playoff game.
McIlroy has 344 points, so he’s safely placed in the top 30 and is almost guaranteed to compete in the Tour title, even when he played in the playoffs at Memphis this week.
The 36-year-old has basically done a tough yard and can succeed in the playoffs as he doesn’t have to fight for three consecutive weeks, albeit at the expense of potential bonuses.
As an experienced professional, McIlroy seems to have chosen to take the rest and recovery routes and be in the best position with his own preparation.
PGA Tour Director: “Very Careful”
PGA Tour competition director Peter Malnati admitted he was “very worried” that members of the field would not compete in the first FedEx Cup playoffs.
When questioning whether players can exploit the same vulnerability, he admitted: “I think there is something in the work and I’ll keep it.”
The landscape has changed dramatically since McIlroy won the last FedEx Cup in 2022.
With the scrapping of the stroke starting, as the Tour Championship becomes a real competition, it is certainly a more competitive playoff and competes in the context of level competition.
But while Scottie Scheffler definitely doesn’t need to start, many people think the new format doesn’t reward positive results and follow-up rankings after the regular season.
For players who have been seasoned in Rory’s professional golf matches, fresh mind and body can be priceless compared to the energy to fight for each hole on consecutive weekends.
We know he will be out in Memphis this weekend, but the question of whether he will play at the BMW Championship in Baltimore next week is not yet met.
The change in formats welcomes make the FedEx Cup more competitive, but the eye-catching absences will be the teeth of the organizers and fans in the Marquee event at PGA Tour.
One thing clear: Rory McIlroy doesn’t need to be in Memphis to tell us he’s going to be a threat in the Tour Championship.
Talent, experience and timely rule changes show that he is right and he needs to be number one in the world.
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