Rory McIlroy struggled to find his best golf at the FedEx St. Jude Championship last weekend, but has history on his side ahead of the next two playoff events
Rory McIlroy struggled at the FedEx St. Jude Championship (
Image: Getty Images)
Rory McIlroy may have endured a dismal start to the 2024 FedEx Cup at TPC Southwind last week, but if history is anything to go by, he still has reasoning to be confident.
McIlroy’s performance at the St. Jude Championship was one to forget, as the four-time major champion finished second from bottom alongside Jordan Spieth at nine-over-par. His struggles on the golf course were clear to see when looking at the statistics.
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His outing in Memphis saw him have the worst driving perfomance of his career (-4.015), the 21st-worst approach week (-3.126), and the third-worst putting week (-7.833), in a troubling start to the playoff campaign.
He will get the chance to rectify his mistakes at this week’s BMW Championship though, as the PGA Tour’s top-70 players were cut to 50 ahead of Thursday’s opening round. Despite the poor showing, McIlroy’s FedEx Cup record is an incredible one, giving him some optimism with two events left to play.
No player has won more FedEx Cup titles than McIlroy, who added his record-breaking third crown at the Tour Championship at East Lake two years ago. Looking at his last win, the Northern Irishman headed into the opening round of the season finale six shots behind leader Scottie Scheffler due to the staggered stroke system.
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He found his best golf in Atlanta, though, chasing down Scheffler to get his hands on the title for a third time. He will need more of the same this campaign, but another look at the record books show he has a strong chance of replicating his heroics.
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Rory McIlroy has three FedEx Cups ( Getty Images)
No player in PGA Tour history has won more FedEx Cup winnings than McIlroy, and he will no doubt be keen to top up this tally at the BMW Championship this week. McIlroy’s record at this week’s event is a strong one, having won the championship back in 2012 ahead of Phil Mickelson and Lee Westwood.
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In recent years, too, the former champion has impressed, breaking into the top-10 on four occasions over the last six years including a fourth-place finish 12 months ago. McIlroy’s campaign has been a relatively solid one by his incredibly high standards, having won twice so far this year.
Discussing what he needs to do to add more in the final run-in, he said last week: “I just have to finish off tournaments better. There’s been glimpses where I have done it, like Quail Hollow, for example, but obviously US Open, you know, Olympics. Yeah, I just, it’s just sort of, I feel like this year, maybe the last couple of years, I’ve just found a way to hit the wrong shot at the wrong time.
“That might go into preparation and trying to practice a little more under pressure at home. You know, you go through these things in golf, and you go through these little challenges, and you just have to try to figure out a way to get through it.”
