This year will surely be remembered as one of the most surreal of Rory McIlroy’s career, with the Northern Irishman completing the Career Grand Slam before seemingly looking like he would rather be anywhere else but the golf course.
Rory McIlroy is the one absentee from the field for the FedEx St. Jude Championship this week at TPC Southwind. The 36-year-old can probably also sit out the BMW Championship next week and be fine to potentially win the Tour Championship at East Lake and with that, the FedEx Cup.
There has been plenty of debate surrounding McIlroy’s decision. Some have defended McIlroy skipping Memphis, believing that it would boost his chances of winning the Tour Championship.
But the PGA Tour will certainly wish that their biggest name was teeing it up this week.
Dan Rapaport reacts to Rory McIlroy skipping the FedEx St. Jude Championship
McIlroy had the entire golfing world hitting every shot with him during the final round of The Masters at Augusta National in April. Many would have naturally replicated his celebration when the winning putt dropped on the 18th green in the playoff.
Unfortunately, that victory appeared to leave many questions. McIlroy looked a lot unhappier at the PGA Championship and the US Open, barely speaking to the media across those two events for various reasons. Even his biggest fan would struggle to argue that he did himself many favours at Quail Hollow or Oakmont.
McIlroy was also criticised for skipping The Memorial Tournament without speaking to Jack Nicklaus beforehand.
With that, it seems that some anticipate that missing the first playoff event will damage his popularity.
But speaking on Dan on Golf, Dan Rapaport insisted that the PGA Tour can have few complaints with McIlroy’s decision.
“I completely understand from Rory McIlroy’s perspective why he doesn’t want to play this week. He’s not going to drop any spots. With the new FedEx Cup format and Tour Championship format, all you’ve got to do is get to East Lake and then it completely wipes clean. If he knows he’s going to make it, the money that he’s sacrificing or the couple of spots he’s going to drop because there’s another pay out for the standings after the BMW Championship – which I suspect Scottie Scheffler will win I think it’s another $5 million, so Scottie’s going to be very well compensated for his fantastic play – it’s just not worth it to Rory,” he said.
“I think we’ve seen Rory in the last couple of weeks, we saw that video of him on the yacht, we saw him looking very comfortable going back to the UK and proper celebrating. And I think for him, it’s like I could go to Memphis, where we should also mention he played terrible last year, it’s 90 degrees and humid the whole week, or I could have another week of rest and go into BMW and the Tour Championship super fresh. Rory doesn’t need money. Rory knows he’s going to make East Lake.
“We wanted to shake him after he won The Masters and said you’ve done it all man, just be happy. And I think that this is a decision that he definitely wouldn’t have made if he didn’t win The Masters. If he doesn’t win The Masters, winning another FedEx Cup, getting to four FedEx Cups is probably a more enticing proposition than it is after he won The Masters. Rory’s had an incredible year, and I think for him this makes sense.
“Obviously, FedEx is not going to like it. Obviously, the PGA Tour’s not going to like it. But I think Rory is not as concerned with putting the shield on his back. I don’t think Rory’s nearly as concerned about doing right by the PGA Tour as he was before the framework agreement. He put himself out there for years and years and years and when it was time to make a decision, he wasn’t in the room. So I don’t think Rory is that concerned with making the people at Ponte Vedra Beach happy. He wants to make Rory McIlroy happy. And it’s hard to argue that.”
He then added when a viewer claimed that he is now losing fans: “The internet’s not a real place. Go out to a tournament and you’ll see Rory’s still the most popular player out there, or at least in the top three.”
Why Luke Donald may want Rory McIlroy to embrace any criticism coming his way
From the outside, it definitely appears that McIlroy has been a lot happier when he has been playing in Europe in recent months. Unsurprisingly, he seemed incredibly comfortable during The Open Championship at Royal Portrush. He has also just moved into a new house near Wentworth.
It would be interesting to know whether McIlroy has grown weary of much of what comes with playing on the PGA Tour. And one person who should perhaps be making a point of highlighting any negative reaction towards McIlroy is Luke Donald.
Some of those unhappy with McIlroy may well be cheering against him come the Ryder Cup in September. Donald should certainly make the point that they will be, in an attempt to fire his talisman up even more.
When it comes to the PGA Tour, McIlroy has so little left to achieve other than win certain events for the first time. Perhaps his motivation levels for the weekly grind on tour have indeed dropped right off since securing sporting immortality at Augusta.
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