Rory McIlroy to Skip First Event in FedEx Cup Playoffs

The first of three playoff events will be staged next week, but McIlroy is sitting it out. Thanks to his strong regular season, he'll still comfortably advance.

Rory McIlroy tied for seventh at the British Open at Portrush. / Mike Frey-Imagn Images

The first of three FedEx Cup playoff events next week will be staged without reigning Masters champion Rory McIlroy, who at times over the past year has hinted he would cut back on his schedule.

McIlroy, who also skipped three signature events this year, including Jack Nicklaus’s Memorial Tournament, was not on the entry list announced Friday for next week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis.

The top 70 players in the FedEx Cup standings following the Wyndham Championship qualify for the tournament, although with McIlroy’s absence there will not be an alternate player added to the $20 million tournament.

At second in the FedEx Cup standings behind Scottie Scheffler, McIlroy will comfortably qualify for the following week’s BMW Championship for the top 50 players and will also have no trouble making the Tour Championship in Atlanta two weeks later.

McIlroy suggested he might do this in an interview with the Telegraph late last year.

“There’s a few tournaments that I played this year that I don’t usually play and that I might not play next year,” McIlroy said.  “I played the Cognizant in Palm Beach Gardens, (the Valero Texas Open in) San Antonio, and (the RBC Heritage at) Hilton Head. And I’ll probably not play the first playoff event in Memphis. I mean, I finished basically dead last there this year and only moved down one spot in the playoff standings.”

McIlroy did skip all those tournaments as well as the season-opening Sentry. He eventually added the Houston Open to his 2025 schedule.

He also has a busy fall schedule. Following the Tour Championship, he plans to play the DP World Tour’s Irish Open, BMW PGA Championship, the Ryder Cup, the India Championship as well as the season-ending events in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. He’s also scheduled to play the Australian Open.

With 3,444 FedEx points, McIlroy faces the possibility of dropping a few spots, as the playoff events offer four times the points and 2,000 to the winner. Someone as far down as 16th position could pass him with a win next week.

But McIlroy, who has three victories this year, will still be in line for a considerable bonus following the BMW Championship, which will see another set of payouts as part of the restricting of the bonus pool. Following the Wyndham, McIlroy will pocket $10 million for finishing second in both the FedEx standings and the Comcast Business bonus pool.

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