Rory McIlroy’s decision to skip the first leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs — the FedEx St. Jude Classic — has left a PGA Tour Policy Board player director “very concerned” and could potentially lead to rule changes moving forward.
The world No. 2 and reigning Masters champion took advantage of a loophole in the new playoff format and decided not to play in the event this week. The top 70 in the FedEx Cup qualify — Rory is currently No. 2 — for the St. Jude, with the top 50 then moving on to the BMW Championship before the top 30 vie for the Tour Championship.
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“Very concerned,” Peter Malnati, a player director on the PGA Tour Policy Board, told reporters Tuesday about a top player skipping a FedEx Cup playoff event. “I think there is stuff in the works [to keep it from happening again] and I’ll leave it at that.”
McIlroy, if he chose, could also sit out the BMW and still advance to the final event at East Lake, where all competitors will start at even par this year after changing from a starting-strokes format.
There also is precedence. Tiger Woods (twice) and Jim Furyk have both skipped the first playoff event and have gone on to win the FedEx Cup Championship.
“You might have one, two guys do that for an event, but I don’t think it will become a thing because they are still huge events against the best players in the world,” Jordan Spieth, who previously served as a PGA Tour Policy Board player director, told reporters, according to GolfWeek. “I think they’re trying to figure out how to make sure you don’t skip both of them and ideally neither of them.”
McIlroy hasn’t played since tying for seventh at the Open Championship.
