A World Champion in Crisis
Rory McIlroy looked like a man who’d lost his way on the fairway. The world No. 2 finished 66th out of 68 players at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, shooting a 2-over 72 and failing to break par in all four rounds at TPC Southwind. That’s a massive drop for a player who usually dominates the leaderboard. Before the upcoming playoff event, McIlroy admitted feeling “so far away from where I need to be.” His swing felt out of sync, and he barely practiced before the tournament started. As the week progressed, the Northern Irishman noted he felt increasingly lost regarding his golf swing.
He finished just two spots better than the last two players in the field.
That isn’t the performance of a man chasing a fourth FedEx Cup title. McIlroy knows he has a long road to fix his game before next week. Intense work is required for him to regain a competitive golf game before the next start. The gap between him and the leaders is wide right now. Scottie Scheffler won the event by eight shots, marking his 21st victory since 2022. McIlroy sits ten wins behind his rival.
The Rust Is Real
McIlroy hadn’t played since last month’s Open Championship. The lack of recent rounds clearly hurt his timing and confidence. He noted that he didn’t come in with a ton of reps on the course. This lack of preparation made it hard to find a rhythm during the week. “Nice to shake the rust off a little bit,” he remarked, “but I’m going to have to work pretty hard between now and next Thursday.” He plans to put his head down and grind until the next start. The execution simply wasn’t there this week at TPC Southwind.
Despite the poor finish, McIlroy is guaranteed to play in the Tour Championship. He will head to Bellerive in St. Louis for the season finale. That’s a safety net, but it doesn’t fix the underlying issues with his swing. He needs to find his swing speed and accuracy fast. The top 50 in points move on to the BMW Championship, and McIlroy is currently far outside that cut line for momentum. He must win or finish near the top next week to regain any real control of the race.
Others Miss the Cut Too
It was a rough weekend for other big names as well. Keith Mitchell and Jordan Spieth both found the water on the final holes. Standing in the water left of the 18th fairway, Mitchell prepared for his next shot. His ball tumbled into the lake, and he finished 51st in the points standings. He was just 7.819 points short of reaching the next event. Spieth also struggled, bogeying holes 11 and 12 after a strong start. He needed to finish in the top 10 to advance but fell just shy of the mark.
Both players expressed frustration with their final shots. Spieth said he wanted to push it to a lower number but it didn’t affect how he played the holes. The wind played a role, but poor decisions cost them their spots. Mitchell had to decide if he was way in and lay up, but he tried to be aggressive. The stakes were high for all three men, but only one came out with a clear path forward.
