Rory McIlroy is missing the PGA
Tour postseason opener and it's not a surprise
[August 06, 2025]
By DOUG FERGUSON
Rory McIlroy was hot and tired when he finished the FedEx St. Jude
Championship last year. He was No. 3 in the FedEx Cup. He beat only
one player at the TPC Southwind and tied for 68th, finishing 26
shots behind. He dropped all the way to No. 5.
“I'm not even sure why I'm playing,” McIlroy said with a chuckle.
So it comes as no surprise that McIlroy has decided to sit out the
start of the PGA Tour postseason, a move he has telegraphed for a
year.
It adds to a peculiar season of scheduling for McIlroy, who was
intent on cutting back.
He already missed two signature events at Hilton Head and Memorial
(he also missed The Sentry at Kapalua, which he has played only once
because he starts his year on the European Tour). But he added the
RBC Canadian Open a week after the Memorial and the week before the
U.S. Open. He also chose to defend his title with Shane Lowry at the
Zurich Classic.
Not much should be read into McIlroy — he's No. 2 behind Scottie
Scheffler — sitting out the FedEx Cup playoffs opener for only the
third time.
Tiger Woods skipped the opener in 2007 and went on to win the FedEx
Cup. Woods played The Barclays in 2009, only to realize during the
pro-am that Wednesday that even if he had won all three playoff
events, he still was not assured winning the FedEx Cup (he won,
anyway).
But given the heat in Memphis in early August, it would not be
surprising if more top players chose to sit this one out. There is a
$5 million bonus for whoever is leading the FedEx Cup after the
second playoff event at the BMW Championship.
Then again, McIlroy already is playing tournaments overseas in the
fall in India and Australia. In these times, $5 million isn't much
of a carrot.
Masters hospitality
Augusta National already has the state-of-the-art Berckmans Place
right off the fifth fairway for high-end Masters patrons. It also as
“Map and Flag," another hospitality option across from Washington
Road.
Sports Business Journal reviewed a brochure for the “Official
Masters Hospitality” program that takes it to a level unlike any
other.
According to the brochure, the program offers a “host home” from
$45,000 to more than $100,000 for the week. It also offers private
transportation up to $15,000, which includes a weekly driver and
either an SUV or a sprinter van.
SBJ also reports a “Full Scale, Private Home Program” as a sample
that runs $219,600 for the week. It's for eight guests and three
waves of packages to the golf course.
The amenities include two homes (a host home for $60,000 and a
sleeper home for $38,000), which includes daily cleaning and fresh
linens, transportation ($29,000), pantry stocking ($6,000), a
full-time staff member ($13,000), catering ($23,500), tee times at
area golf courses ($13,500) and a 20% service fee ($36,600).
Nelly toppled
Nelly Korda headed to the Paris Olympics last summer at No. 1 in the
world. Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand was at No. 15, two players
seemingly headed in different directions.
A year later, Thitikul is back to No. 1 in the world, largely
because of Korda failing to win this year and having nine finishes
out of the top 10.
Dating to the Olympics, Thitikul won three times, was runner-up four
times and had 16 top 20s in 23 tournaments worldwide.
Korda won The Annika in Florida toward the end of last season. She
had three runner-up finishes — two of them at majors — but she
finished in the top 10 in only nine of her 18 starts. She had one
stretch where she finished out of the top 10 in seven out of nine
tournaments.
Korda had been at No. 1 for 71 weeks, the fourth-longest streak
since the women's world ranking began in 2006.
Thitikul was previously No. 1 for all of two weeks in the fall of
2022. Thitikul and Ai Miyazato are the only women at No. 1 to have
never won a major.
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On the bubble
Xander Schauffele is assured of making his 70th consecutive cut in
the FedEx St. Jude Championship, the start of the PGA Tour
postseason which has no 36-hole cut.
But there's another streak on the line.
Schauffele has been slow to hit his stride since missing two months
at the start of the year with a rib injury. He goes into the
postseason at No. 42 in the FedEx Cup. Schauffele has reached the
Tour Championship eight consecutive years dating to his rookie
season in 2017.
That's tied with Tony Finau for the longest active streak getting to
East Lake. Finau has an even greater sense of urgency. He starts the
FedEx Cup playoffs at No. 62. Only the top 50 advance to the BMW
Championship, and the top 30 reach the Tour Championship.
LPGA major award
Minjee Lee is a winner for the second time of the Rolex Annika Major
Award, given to the major champion who has the best record among the
LPGA's five majors.
Points are awarded only to top 10s, so Lee effectively won by one
position. She won the KPMG Women's PGA and tied for third in the
Evian Championship. Mao Saigo won the Chevron Championship and tied
for fourth in the U.S. Women's Open.
Miyu Yamashita won the AIG Women's British Open and tied for sixth
in the Women's PGA.
Lee and Yamashita were the only major champions to make the cut in
every major. By combined score, Lee was at 19-under par, while
Yamashita was at 8 under.
Yani is back
Yani Tseng delivered perhaps the biggest surprise of the major
championship season with her tie for 63rd in the Women's British
Open. It was her first time making the cut in a major since 2017,
and her first time playing the weekend at any LPGA-sanctioned event
since 2018.
The former No. 1 player in women's golf and five-time major champion
has been in a slump so severe, mostly because of the yips, that
making the cut at Royal Porthcawl was a big deal. She also was
slowed by hip surgery.
“It's been a while,” Tseng said after making the cut. “I’m fighting
really hard to be here. I’m proud of myself that I didn’t give up. I
gave myself a chance to come back here, and play the links course
like this, it’s always a dream.”
Key to her turnaround around coach Brady Riggs was when he suggested
she start putting lefthanded. Tseng said she tried it and “I'm not
afraid anymore.”
She is entered in the Standard Portland Classic next week.
Divots
The LPGA Tour now has gone 20 tournaments without any player winning
more than once, the longest streak to start a season in its 75-year
history. The last 14 majors have been won by 14 different players.
... Blades Brown made it through Monday qualifying and the
18-year-old tied for seventh in the Utah Championship, giving him
special temporary membership for the remainder of the Korn Ferry
Tour season. He is 68th on the points list. The top 20 earn PGA Tour
cards for 2026. ... Cameron Young at the Wyndham Championship became
the 12th first-time winner on the PGA Tour this season.
Stat of the week
Ten years ago, the LPGA Tour had nine players make at least $1
million. There are 24 players who have at least $1 million in
earnings this year with 12 tournaments still on the schedule.
Final word
“He's just adding his name to the list of many guys that are hard
for us to say no to.” — Webb Simpson, a Ryder Cup assistant captain,
on Cameron Young.
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