The PGA Tour regular season is over, and the hotly anticipated FedEx Cup Playoffs tee off at TPC Southwind on Thursday.
But one of golf’s biggest stars and the only active Career Grand Slam holder will be notably absent at one of the season’s most competitive events.
Rory McIlroy, 2025 Masters champion and three-time FedEx Cup winner, will not be in the field in Memphis.
Yet, despite skipping the FedEx St. Jude Championship this weekend, the world number two doesn’t sacrifice his chances for the postseason title.
The Northern Irishman’s absence is indeed puzzling, with multiple questions being asked.
How can he still have a chance of winning while sitting out the first of only three playoff events?
The FedEx St. Jude Championship offers a $15million purse and a chance to gain momentum – why let this opportunity slip by?
A new FedEx Cup Playoffs format in 2025
The 2025 FedEx Playoffs will have a new look with the field no longer awarded starting strokes at the Tour Championship based on their standings heading into the event.
Under the old format, McIlroy would have started the final two strokes behind leader Scottie Scheffler, but now that advantage is gone – and so is the urgency to play every play-off event.
McIlroy has 344 points and so is safely nestled inside the top 30 and has an all but guaranteed entry into the Tour Championship, even by skipping the first playoff in Memphis this week.
The 36-year-old has essentially already done the hard yards and can approach the play-offs as he pleases with no need to fight through three straight weeks of competition, albeit at the expense of potential prize money.
As a seasoned professional, McIlroy has seemingly opted to take the rest and recovery route and has put himself in the best position possible to operate in a way he feels ready.
The ever-changing landscape of golf
The landscape has changed dramatically since McIlroy claimed his last FedEx Cup title in 2022.
With starting strokes now scrapped, it will surely be a more competitive post-season as the Tour championship becomes a truer head-to-head contest with a level playing field.
But despite Scottie Scheffler definitely not needing a head start, many argue the new format doesn’t reward positive results and the subsequent standings after the regular season.
For a player as seasoned in professional golfing events as Rory, a fresh body and mind may be invaluable in comparison to expending energy fighting for every hole in consecutive weekends.
We know he’ll be absent in Memphis this weekend, but the question of whether he appears at next week’s BMW Championship in Baltimore is unanswered.
Changes to the format were welcomed to make the FedEx Cup more competitive, but high-profile absences at the PGA Tour’s marquee event will be a kick in the teeth to organisers and fans.
There’s one clear thing: Rory McIlroy doesn’t need to show up in Memphis to tell us he’ll be a threat at the Tour Championship.
Talent, experience and a timely rule change suggest he’s right where he needs to be to take the challenge to the world number one.
READ MORE: Revealed: The big-name stars facing relegation from LIV Golf
The post Where’s Rory? Why McIlroy can skip FedEx Cup Playoff events and still win Tour Championship appeared first on Golf365.
Article Link: The REAL reason Rory McIlroy is skipping the FedEx Cup Playoff start