To reduce him Overall workload for the seasonMasters champion Rory McIlroy has decided not to play at this week’s St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee. So the first leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs will be run with 69 of the top 70 players in the world.
McIlroy’s decision is met with Angst from the organizers of the PGA Tour. The PGA Tour Organizer is considering changing the rules so even someone in the caliber will not be mathematically locked into the second leg of the playoffs, BMW Championships, or Tour Championships. While each leg offers four times the points of regular season events, McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler are in front of the field and cannot pass the top 50 and top 30 thresholds required for the latter event.
Peter Marnaty, player director for the PGA Tour Policy Board, said this week he was “very interested” that McIlroy has chosen to skip one of the three playoff legs. “I think there’s something in the piece,” Marnati told Golf Week when she was forced to elaborate on future rules changes so that this would never happen again.
McIlroy told The Telegraph last year that skipping the St. Jude Championship in 2025 is likely to be included in the card.
“There are a few tournaments I’ve played this year. I’m not playing normally so I might not play next year,” McIlroy said. “I played the Recognizer at Palm Beach Gardens, (Valero Texas Open), San Antonio, (in the RBC legacy), and probably won’t play the first playoff event in Memphis.
With three wins this year, McIlroy has earned more shots during the BMW Championship and Tour Championship to earn $10 million in bonus money.
In 2025, there will be plenty of opportunities to make extra money left for McIlroy outside the PGA Tour, including the Australian Open, the Irish Open on the DP World Tour, the BMW PGA Championship, the Indian Championship, and other events in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. McIlroy will also be the lead European attendee at the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black in New York.
Former PGA Tour Policy Player Director Jordanspeace doesn’t believe Macroloy’s decision to pass the start of the FedEx Cup playoffs will become trending.
“We might have one or two people do that for the event, but I don’t think that’s going to happen because it’s a big event for the best players in the world,” Spieth says. “I think they’re trying to figure out how to make sure you don’t skip both of them and ideally either.”
