The FedEx Cup playoffs begin next week in Memphis, Tennessee, but the world’s second golfer is not part of the field. Rory McIlroy’s name was missing on the 69 competitor list for the 2025 St. Jude Championship released by the PGA Tour.
Although 70 men qualify for the first round of the playoffs, McIlroy ranks so highly that they can easily slide into the second round of the playoffs without competing. He leaves a potentially significant payday on the table, but the TPC Southwind winner will take home $3.6 million – he will be able to join the rest of the top 50 of the one-hour BMW Championship in Washington, DC the following week.
McIlroy almost certainly qualifies for the Tour Championship as one of the top 30 players remaining after the BMW Championship. The Northern Irishman and the Reality Masters Champion are three-time Tour Championship winners and have each won these crowns over the past nine seasons (2016, 2019, 2022).
McIlroy is extremely successful at the Tour Championship host at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, but he generally struggles with the St. Jude Championship. He never won in Memphis and actually finished second in 2024. The BMW Championship finished fourth every year in 2021 when it was last held at the Caves Valley Golf Club.
The decision not to play the St. Jude Championship comes as part of an early season promise McIlroy has made himself to reduce events and reduce overall schedules. Speaking to the Telegraph last November, he noted that next week’s event as a skippable event, finishing the T68 a year ago and moved only to #1 in the FedEx Cup rankings.
