By most people's standards, Rory McIlroy has enjoyed an enviable season on the PGA Tour. As the FedEx Cup Playoffs get underway, the no. 3-ranked player in the world has two wins (including a Signature Event), a U.S Open runner-up, and seven top-10s.
Of course, Rory McIlroy is not most people.
“I certainly don't want to sit up here and belittle my achievements at all this year and what I've done, but at the same time, yeah, I expect a certain standard from myself,” McIlroy said Wednesday ahead of the FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind in Memphis.
“I’ve won a couple of times. I’ve had an opportunity to win a few more times than that and haven’t been able to get over the line.”
“There’s been glimpses where I have done it, like Quail Hollow (at the Wells Fargo Championship), for example. But obviously the U.S Open, Olympics. … I feel like this year and maybe the last couple years I’ve just found a way to hit the wrong shot at the wrong time.”
McIlroy has often relied on the FedEx Cup Playoffs to end his PGA Tour seasons on a high note. The Northern Irishman is the only three-time winner of the year-end competition, which was introduced in 2007.
“I think when the bulk of the season has come and gone and you’ve got this opportunity of three weeks to really, I guess, flip the script a little bit or change the narrative and what that season means, I think that’s a motivating factor and part of the reason that I’ve probably played well in the playoffs for the last three years,” he said.
Here's how McIlroy performed on Thursday at TPC Southwind.
Rory McIlroy shoots 68 to open FedEx St. Jude Championship
McIlroy wasted no time driving the narrative, carding an eagle on the par-5 3rd. After six straight pars, the 26-time PGA Tour winner hit the turn as one of the few golfers in the morning wave in the red. McIlroy stumbled into bogeys at the par-4 10th and the par-4 12th, but bounced back with two birdies in his final three holes.
His last approach of the day — a dart from the pine straw — proved to be his sweetest.
McIlroy, who did not take questions afterward, is one of 12 golfers tied for 17th at 2-under. Chris Kirk (-6) is the current clubhouse leader (thanks to his fourth career ace).
The top 70 golfers in the season-long FedEx Cup standings are competing this week in the sweltering Memphis heat. The top 50 will advance to the BMW Championship at Castle Springs Golf Club, Colorado. The top 30 in that event move on to the Tour Championship at East Lake, which handicaps the leaderboard based on FedEx Cup points.
McIlroy's strong finish to his round reinforced a truth he surely understands better than anybody: It's not how you start, it's how you finish — holes, rounds, tournaments, seasons.
“There's still three tournaments left in this PGA Tour season. I think I've actually got eight or nine tournaments left this year, but three on the PGA Tour, to turn an O.K. season into a very good one,” McIlroy said.
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