NORTHERN Ireland’s Rory McIlroy is back in Memphis this week, a year after he bypassed the opening round of the US PGA Tour playoffs in favour of some rest.
McIlroy said his inclusion at this year’s FedEx St. Jude Championships is a nod to not having played in recent weeks, but he also admitted to having some conversations with PGA Tour chief executive officer Brian Rolapp leading up to the tournament that began Thursday at TPC Southwind.
At No. 2 in the FedExCup standings last year when the playoffs began, McIlroy knew he was not in danger of falling out of the top 50 that qualified for the second weekend of the three-week playoffs so he skipped the event.
But in punting on the opening round of the playoffs, it rankled PGA Tour officials, with Peter Malnati, the player director of the PGA Tour Policy Board saying that “stuff” might be in the works.
The comment was assumed to be a nod to a potential rule change that never happened.
There is no such controversy this year surrounding the current No. 12 in the FedExCup standings.
“Yeah, a few different things went into that decision,” McIlroy said this week.
“I think having four weeks off going into the last two events of the year was probably going to be a little too much for me in terms of wanting to be competitive. So this is a good week to return.
“Obviously I want to play well, but it’s also a good week to just see where my game is, do a lot of practice, or as much as I can in the heat.”
Personal reasons aside, McIlroy also admitted that a full field in the opening round of the playoffs is good for the PGA Tour.
