Rory McIlroy is not going to play well at the St. Jude Championship in Memphis, per Brad Faxon.
Faxon, who has worked with McIlroy on his putting since the 2023 Open Championship, said McIlroy had not hit a competitive shot and barely swung a club at all, from the moment he walked off Royal Birkdale until rougly Saturday last week.
He was enjoying the vacation.
McIlroy informed of his plans just after the conclusion of The Open. He clarified that he will be skipping all the three events of the regular season and directly come to Memphis.
He used that time to spend summer vacation with his daughter Poppy and wife, Erica Stoll.
Snaps of his vacation surfaced on the internet but nobody imagined that he was going to completely out of touch with golf for such a long span.
Rory McIlroy is More Motivated to Play in the European Circuit
CBS Sports’ Patrick McDonald, who co-hosts the network’s Scorecard golf podcast alongside Shane Bacon and Johnson Wagner, does not think McIlroy’s heart is fully in Memphis, St. Louis or Atlanta at all.
McDonald argued that McIlroy’s real target is the stretch of golf that follows the playoffs entirely.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if he cares more about this stretch on the European Tour after the postseason than the postseason itself,” McDonald said. “You have the Irish Open defense, you have the BMW PJ Championship, which he has come really close to. And then of course he’ll go to India, get a nice appearance fee there and all that fun stuff.”
McDonald wouldn’t be wrong. McIlroy admitted that te PGA Tour and the FedEx Cup Playoffs does not enthuse him as much as before. The Irish Open is his home event and the BMW PGA Championship is close to his present home.
He has openly called the new playoff structure, in which only a top-30 spot heading into the Tour Championship truly counts, a reason to not worry about the first two events. “Why would I care about the first two?” he said.
Rory McIlroy’s Rival Scottie Scheffler Dealt a Similarly Grim Observation
If McIlroy’s motivation is the first question of the playoffs, Scottie Scheffler’s inability to close is the second.
Bacon does not believe the World No. 1 will win a single one of the three postseason events, despite Scheffler entering as the overwhelming favorite in the FedEx Cup standings.
“He’s probably ready for the year to end,” Bacon said. “I’m sure there’s motivation to maybe pick up one more trophy, but the Scottie Scheffler I’ve seen out on the golf course over the last few months hasn’t looked like the guy excited to play tournament golf. It looks like the guy that’s just inevitably waiting for the win to come. And if it doesn’t come, he’s ready for the week to be over.”
Bacon expects a top 5 or a top 10 finish but not a win.
Concerning Rory McIlroy News Brought to Light by Brad Faxon Ahead of FedEx Cup Playoffs