Storylines for the FedEx St. Jude Championship: Where's Rory McIlroy?

The 2025 FedEx Cup Playoffs have officially arrived. This week, the top 70 players in the standings will head to TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee, for the first round of the postseason at the FedEx St. Jude Championship.

Well, maybe not the full top 70, which is where our storylines begin.

Rory McIlroy skipping first playoff event

The biggest story of the FedEx St. Jude Championship might be the player who won't even be there. McIlroy, who enters the playoffs ranked second in the FedEx Cup standings, won't tee it up at the first playoff event because, frankly, he doesn't have to. 

Because the PGA Tour ditched the starting-strokes format at the Tour Championship, it doesn't matter where players begin the playoff finale in the standings. McIlroy is already guaranteed to qualify for the Tour Championship, so he can afford to take an extra week off to prepare for East Lake. Eliminating starting strokes will make for a more entertaining Tour Championship, but it accidentally made the other two playoff events irrelevant for the top players in the standings. 

More players could follow McIlroy's lead in the coming years unless the PGA Tour steps in. 

Is Scottie Scheffler inevitable? 

It's hard to pick anyone not named Scheffler to win this week. With McIlroy not in the field, Scheffler is a +280 favorite (FanDuel) to win the FedEx St. Jude Championship. The next-closest player on the odds board is Xander Schauffele at +1800.