Rory McIlroy Not Attending St Jude Championship

With the Wyndham Championships wrapping up, the PGA Tour regular season is nearly done.  With that, it means it is time to move on to the FedEx Cup this weekend.  The FedEx Cup playoffs will start with the St. Jude Championship in Memphis, Tennessee.  The top 70 list is filling out nicely, with the remainder to be determined.  However, one notable player is missing from the St Jude Championship, and that is Rory McIlroy.

The Significance Of St Jude Championship

The St Jude Championship differs from the tournaments of the regular season in many ways.  Most notable is the field size.  This is an event reserved for the top 70 players only, with no alternates.  Whatever happens to the players happens, and no one steps into their place.  This is also for PGA Tour members only.  No surprise breakout player can sneak their way into these events.  The next event in the FedEx playoffs is the BMW Championship, which only allows the top fifty.  McIlroy skipping out on the first event is a bit of a head-scratcher.

McIlroy Skipping St Jude

Skipping the first event of the playoffs seems like a strange decision.  However, this is a calculated decision that was telegraphed last November in an interview with the Telegraph.

“I’ll probably not play the first play-off event in Memphis,” McIlroy told the Telegraph in November. “I mean, I finished basically dead last there this year [tied for 68 in a 70-man field], and only moved down one spot in the play-off standings.”

Being negatively affected like that is enough to dissuade anyone.   However, the playoffs are very important events in order to get close to the FedEx Cup.  Although his reasoning will garner him some criticism, he can get away with it this year.

Rory McIlroy’s Standing In The FedEx Cup

Not attending the St Jude Championship won’t hurt Rory McIlroy’s FedEx standing much.  At the time of writing, McIlroy stands in a strong second place in the FedEx Cup standings.  First is Scottie Scheffler, who remains unshaken in his position.  McIlroy’s position is in a strong enough position that he can skip at least the first two events in the playoffs without much worry.  It’s a strange position to be in, to be able to skip an event and still be in strong standings.  That is just the natural outcome of the season McIlroy has had.  He did manage to win the Masters Tournament this year as well, which just improved his standing.

McIlroy And The FedEx Cup

Despite not attending the first event, Rory McIlroy still has more than a strong chance at the FedEx Cup.  This isn’t even the first event he has skipped this year.  He didn’t attend the Cognizant Classic, the Valero Texas Open, the RBC Heritage, or the Memorial Championship.  Yet despite that, he is still in such a strong standing.  His skill speaks for itself, although one can argue that he would be in an even better position if he had attended those events.  He is still in the race, and only time will tell how he will fare at the end of the playoffs.