While Scottie Scheffler is the best player on the PGA Tour, Rory McIlroy is unquestionably the biggest star.
McIlroy has the most powerful pull in world golf when it comes to bringing fans to golf tournaments and their TV sets.
The Northern Irishman is a key cog in the PGA Tour machine, and he is universally adored by golfing fans.
McIlroy has been in superb form on the PGA Tour this season, with three wins to his name including his Masters triumph.
And while McIlroy has been overshadowed by Scheffler on the golf course over the past few months, he is still the biggest draw when it comes to the PGA Tour striking commercial deals.
The 36-year-old seems to have found a spark again after returning home for The Open Championship last month.
He’ll now be in a good place to attack the play-offs as he looks to try and win his fourth FedEx Cup title.
Rory McIlroy announcement proves the PGA Tour made a mistake
McIlroy seemed like he didn’t want to play competitive golf earlier this season, after the fallout from the PGA Championship where his driver was deemed to be non-conforming.
He embarked on a media blackout at Quail Hollow, and failed to speak to the press after six consecutive major rounds.
McIlroy admitted that he felt hard done by because his name had been leaked in relation to the driver testing controversy, while others’ names were kept anonymous.
However, the Northern Irishman is now out of his slump, and his golf is definitely trending in the right direction again.
There is a big problem though. We won’t see McIlroy at the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis next week.
The official field list was released by the PGA Tour, with one very notable omission.
McIlroy’s name missing from the field list at TPC Southwind means the PGA Tour have made one very big mistake.
Brian Rolapp and his cohorts need to address the self-inflicted problem immediately.
PGA Tour must change the Tour Championship format after McIlroy’s decision
The format of the Tour Championship has been changed this year.
There will no longer be a two-stroke head start for the man leading the FedEx Cup standings. Instead, everyone will begin the tournament on even-par, meaning that anyone inside the top-30 has a real chance of taking home the jackpot.
So is it any wonder McIlroy decided to rest up for another week rather than travel to Memphis? The system is badly flawed, and the Northern Irishman not playing next week has highlighted that fact.
It’s also worth noting that McIlroy not playing the first play-off event merely lends credence to LIV Golf’s claim that their model is one that will work better in the future.
Fans of LIV Golf know that the best players will be at every tournament on schedule, barring injury of course.
The PGA Tour need to wake up, and fast. They cannot afford to have their most marketable player choosing to miss one of the three season-ending events.
Perhaps a simple rule needs to be brought into place whereby the top-70 players who are qualified for the end of season play-offs are obligated to play the first event at the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
Something has to change because the current system simply isn’t working and with no handicap system at the Tour Championship now, the top 10 or 20 guys in the FedEx Cup standings really can just mail it in until East Lake.
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