Rory McIlroy’s FedEx St. Jude Championship got off to a terrible start on Thursday at TPC Southwind.
McIlroy posted an opening-round score of 74 on day one in Memphis, and he is sitting nine shots adrift of the leader with 54 holes remaining.
The 37-year-old Northern Irishman was quite clearly a long way off his best, with all departments of his game causing him problems.
Rory McIlroy‘s 74 on day one of the FedEx St. Jude Championship was littered with seriously uncharacteristic mistakes.
The six-time major champion lost strokes on the field in every single key statistical category on Thursday at TPC Southwind.
He lost just over two strokes alone to the field with his approach play, and he was hitting shots that you very rarely see from the best players in the world.
There seemed to be a real lack of energy in the McIlroy and Scheffler grouping on Thursday at the FedEx St. Jude.
McIlroy is clearly struggling with motivating himself outside of the major championships right now.
However, something has to change next year if he is to enjoy himself on the golf course at the very least.
The PGA Tour change Rory McIlroy must make in 2027
It’s difficult to watch McIlroy play golf right now, and not because he is playing so poorly, but more so because he looks thoroughly miserable.
In fact, it’s fair to say that it looks like he is far happier when he’s not on the golf course at the moment. His recent trip to Ibiza was a prime example of that.
Over the past 16 months or so, it seems like the only things that get his juices flowing are the major championships and the Ryder Cup.
Incredibly, McIlroy has played just six PGA Tour events since his Masters win back in April. He hasn’t played a tournament on the DP World Tour during that period either.
Three of those were major championships, so he has only played in three non-major events over the past four months.
April-August is supposed to be the busiest and most exciting part of the golfing season, but McIlroy has taken his foot off the gas, much like he did last year after his win at Augusta National.
The key point to note here is that McIlroy has earned the right to do whatever he wants.
I’m not sitting here telling a man with 30 PGA Tour wins, including six major championships, what to do. I obviously wouldn’t have the right to do that anyway.
My point is that McIlroy will end up being thoroughly miserable with his golf game for large chunks of the season if he continues playing such a light schedule.
What’s the point in the Northern Irishman not giving it his all over the next five years as he looks to cement his legacy?
Rory McIlroy needs to think long and hard about what he wants to achieve
Rory McIlroy’s mentality right now is that nothing else matters aside from the four major championships.
He is struggling with getting motivated for regular PGA Tour events, and you could see during his opening round at the FedEx St. Championship how rusty and, quite frankly, disinterested he was.
Rory McIlroy needs to have a long, hard think during the off-season about what he really wants to achieve in the game.
Obviously adding to his major tally is his main goal. However, having no motivation to play in regular PGA Tour events is actually affecting his chances of achieving that goal.
That has been proven this year already.
McIlroy played in four big events in the build-up to The Masters and, as a result, his game was in fine fettle heading into Augusta National.
However, he only played in one event ahead of each of the following three major championships.
As good as Rory McIlroy is, it’s impossible for him to play so scarcely and still contend in the majors.
He’s not only hurting his own chances of cementing his legacy as one of the greatest golfers of all time by playing such a limited schedule, but he’s making it almost impossible for himself to actually enjoy playing golf.
What is the point of doing things in half measures? As the old saying goes: if a job is worth doing, it’s worth doing properly.