Rory McIlroy ended his 2026 PGA Tour season in fairly bland fashion at the Tour Championship last week.
McIlroy struggled to find motivation during the final four months of the season after winning The Masters for the second consecutive year back in April.
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In fact, the 37-year-old from Holywood, Northern Ireland, only played six non-major events on the PGA Tour after his triumph at Augusta National.
As a result, Rory McIlroy’s game was incredibly rusty almost every time he teed it up after the Masters.
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McIlroy was outplayed by his main rival Scottie Scheffler in almost every aspect throughout the 2026 PGA Tour season.
Scheffler’s win at the Tour Championship on Sunday cemented his standing as the best golfer on the planet by a very long way.
However, it has been suggested that, had McIlroy won at East Lake, there could have been a difficult decision to make.
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Rory McIlroy winning the Tour Championship would’ve caused ‘total anarchy’
While making an appearance on the Indo Sport Podcast, Shipnuck explained why McIlroy winning the Tour Championship could have proved to be problematic.
“Yeah, I was hoping he would win the FedEx Cup with the Tour Championship, and then we’d have to make him Player of the Year,“ Shipnuck joked.
“It would have been total anarchy, because he basically had one good week until, you know, August.
“Yeah, it’s been funny. I mean, obviously, once the Open Championship concludes, Rory’s interest drops significantly.
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“We saw him at the club in Ibiza, that was clearly where he wanted to be, but he does get re-engaged.
“Like, the order of merit means a lot to him, on the European Tour. I guess we have to call it the Race To Dubai now.
“That’s a record he’s chasing with a lot more urgency than the FedEx Cup.
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“So, of course, we know how much the Irish Open means to him. He loves this global world tour that he plays in November and December.
“So, yeah, he’s been in a slumber for a couple months, but he’s clearly re-engaged now, and hopefully, you know, he makes a nice run here at the end of the year.“
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That is quite the claim from Shipnuck – one that I do not agree with at all.
Even if McIlroy had won the Tour Championship, there is no way he would have been ahead of Wyndham Clark, Cam Young or Scottie Scheffler in the Player of the Year race.
The six-time major champion admitted as much himself ahead of the FedEx Cup finale at East Lake.
Golf needs the ‘electricity’ that Rory McIlroy brings
Alan Shipnuck explained how golf is so much better when the 37-year-old Northern Irishman is firing on all cylinders.
“Anytime you win The Masters, it’s a great season,“ Shipnuck said.
“No one’s is going to debate that. But Rory took that a little too literally.
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“I mean, he was just –– he made a little bit of a run at the PGA at a championship at Aronimink, but from mid-May until mid-August, he was just a non-factor, which is, you know, it’s fine.
“He has earned the right to do whatever he wants. If he doesn’t feel like grinding week to week, I mean, that’s his prerogative, but it’s just a lot more fun when he’s in contention.
“We just miss the electricity that he brings, and it’ll be fun to see what he can accomplish here at the end of the season.“
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