Scottie Scheffler hasn't performed all that well in the PGA Tour's postseason, so you can understand why he isn't exactly attached to the three-week FedEx Cup Playoffs as a year-ending competition. Rory McIlroy, for the most part, disagrees.
“I talked about it the last few years, I think it's silly,” Scheffler said Wednesday at his press conference ahead of the first playoff event, the FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind in Memphis. “You can't call it a season-long race and have it come down to one tournament.”
The top 70 in the FedEx Cup points race qualified for the St. Jude. The top 50 finishers in Memphis earn a spot in the field at next week's BMW Championship (and, crucially, eligibility in the eight Signature Events in 2025). The top 30 in Colorado advance to the Tour Championship at East Lake.
At the TOUR Championship, the golfer leading in points starts at 10-under, two strokes ahead of second place, and so on from there. Scheffler has opened the past two Tour Championships out front, but failed to maintain his lead.
Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy disagree on FedEx Cup Playoffs
“Hypothetically, we get to East Lake and my neck flares up and it doesn't heal the way it did at the Players,” Scheffler continued. “I finish 30th in the FedEx Cup because I had to withdraw from the last tournament? Is that really the season-long race? No, it is what it is.”
Scheffler topped the FedEx Cup race by a landslide over Xander Schauffele. The World No. 1 racked up six lucrative PGA Tour victories — and that's to say nothing of his gold medal. McIlroy came in third.
But Scheffler has never fared well in the postseason. The 27-year-old is yet to contend in Memphis in six appearances.
“It's a fun tournament,” Scheffler said about St. Jude. “I don't really consider it the season-long race like I think the way it's called. But you've got to figure out a way to strike a balance between it being a good TV product and it still being a season-long race.
Scheffler and Schauffele are paired together for the first two rounds in Memphis. Rory McIlroy is playing with Collin Morikawa. In 2022, McIlroy came back to win East Lake, thanks to Scheffler's final-round 73.
“Right now, I don't know exactly how the ratings are or anything like that, but I know for a fact you can't really quite call it the season-long race when it comes down to one stroke-play tournament on the same golf course each year.”
The PGA Tour introduced the FedEx Cup Playoffs in 2007. Rory McIlroy, the only three-time champion, is more favorable to the format, at least on a competitive and entertainment level.
“I love this format because if it wasn't this format, then none of us would have a chance against Scottie because he's so far ahead,” said McIlroy, a two-time PGA Tour winner in 2024.
The future Hall of Famers do share common ground on one thing: the playoffs' efficacy as a barometer for season-long excellence.
“I think it makes the Tour Championship more exciting from a consumer standpoint,” said McIlroy. “Is it the fairest reflection of who's been the best player of the year? Probably not. But I think at this point we're not in for totally fair; we're in for entertainment and for trying to put on the best product we possibly can.”
Conveniently, the PGA Tour gives out a Player of the Year award.
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