Citing the current playoff structure and his busy late-season schedule, Rory McIlroy on Wednesday defended his decision to skip last week’s playoff opener at the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
McIlroy was the only player in the 70-man field who elected not to compete in the first of three playoff events at TPC Southwind. He didn’t lose any ground in the standings, remaining at No. 2 heading into this week’s BMW Championship, and is still unable to pass Scottie Scheffler for the top spot.
That’s not as significant as in years’ past, with the Tour announcing midway through the season that it was changing the format of the season finale, from a staggered-strokes start to a winner-take-all, 72-hole event.
The top 5 players in the FedExCup standings after this week will receive at least a $1 million bonus, with Scheffler, at No. 1, slated to bank another $5 million.
McIlroy’s no-show in Memphis prompted much debate about the postseason format, with Peter Malnati, a player director on the PGA Tour policy board, telling reporters that he was “very concerned” about arguably the Tour’s biggest star missing one of the $20 million postseason events and that it was already looking into ways to close the loophole.
“There’s been a lot of discourse about should these playoffs be mandatory,” McIlroy said Wednesday at the BMW Championship. “Obviously I didn’t play last week, and is that something they need to look at? I’ve heard this idea kicked around, where everything resets after Wyndham and then the top 70 just play for the top 50 spots to get into the next week, and then everything resets again here, and then the top 30 from this week then make it to the Tour Championship.
“If you want to try to make it straight playoffs and elimination, I think that would be a good way to go. (But) you’re trying to balance a lot of different things. You’re trying to balance the competitive integrity of what the playoffs are, but you’re also trying to keep the media rights partners happy, and you’re trying to keep the sponsors happy – they’re the people that are paying the big bucks and expect the big names to be playing in their golf tournaments, and that’s a delicate balance.”
McIlroy said he still would have skipped last week’s event even if a more severe punishment were in place and he fell, for instance, outside the top 30 in the standings. He said he is playing nine more events this year, including trips to the United Kingdom, India, Dubai and Australia, and wanted to give his 36-year-old body another week off. Being at his best for an away Ryder Cup and chasing a seventh Race to Dubai title are high on his priority list.
“A lot of the guys aren’t 18 years into their professional careers, either. I feel like I’m in a little bit of a different position than some of the guys,” he said. “That extra week off will do me good with the events coming up.”
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