Rory McIlroy playing catch-up in Tour Championship: 'You just have to get off to a fast start'

Rory McIlroy will start Thursday tied for 16th place at 2-under par – already eight shots behind leader Patrick Cantlay in the handicapped 30-player field

Rory McIlroy during the final round of the BMW Championship at Caves Valley. Picture: Rob Carr/Getty Images

Rory McIlroy returns to East Lake seeking a third FedEx Cup title, but he’ll have more work than usual to take home the trophy and a US $15m windfall.

After stepping up to finish fourth last week in the BMW Championship at Caves Valley in Maryland to secure his spot in the Tour Championship, McIlroy will start Thursday tied for 16th place at 2-under par – already eight shots behind leader Patrick Cantlay in the handicapped 30-player field based on points ranking.

“I mean, I'm just happy to be here, to be honest,” McIlroy said Wednesday. “I was 28th going into the week last week at Caves Valley. I knew I needed at least a decent week to make it here and it turned out to be a bit better than that. I played, probably played some of the best golf I've played all year, not good enough to keep up with Patrick and Bryson (DeChambeau), but certainly good enough to move up a few spots and get here this week.

“I think it's always a feather in your cap to make the Tour Championship even though someone in my position is expected to and I obviously expect myself to as well. You look around this week and there's only 30 players here and you can single out every single player that's done something really well this year. So to be included in that group is nice and at least I have a chance.” McIlroy won the first Tour Championship under the staggered scoring system in 2019, rallying from five shots behind Justin Thomas at the start to eventually win by four strokes in the end. He’ll have to navigate a wider gap and more bodies in front of him on the pre-set leaderboard this time around.

“It was funny, I saw Sungjae (Im) this morning at breakfast, and when I finished on Sunday, it looked like I was projected to start the tournament this week at 4-under,” McIlroy said. “And then Sungjae birdied 17, and then I was projected to start the week at 3-under. And then he birdied the last, and then I went down to 2-under. So even before the week started, he cost me two shots.”

The starting deficit puts a greater emphasis on tightening mistakes and getting off to a fast start at East Lake, where McIlroy has won in 2016 and 2019, finished runner-up in 2014 and posted six top-10 finishes in seven prior starts.

“I think East Lake isn't the easiest golf course in the world and it certainly seems to be a course that separates the field somewhat,” he said. “So the way I look at it, if I go out (Thursday) and shoot 6-under, for example, which is the score I shot last year in the first round, get to 8-under par, and some of those top guys shoot even par or even 1- or 2-over, all of a sudden you're right in it.

“So it's a golf course that I feel like you can make up a lot of ground quickly. You can also lose a lot of ground quickly as well, depending on how it goes. But I certainly don't feel like I'm out of it. I don't feel like I'm too far behind. Eight shots around this golf course doesn't seem like that much, so still pretty optimistic.

“But, I mean, I think it just puts the impetus – especially for people that are in my position, the bottom half of the field – you just have to get off to a fast start.” Despite the challenge he faces this week, McIlroy likes the current format for deciding the season-long PGA Tour winner.

“There's been a few iterations of it and I think this is definitely the best format so far,” he said. “There's clarity for the players. There's clarity for the fans. Again, it's the play-offs, and I think everyone that's in the top-30 deserves to be here and then because of that everyone in the top-30 deserves to feel like they have a chance to win it all.

“Look, I've went into two play-off runs being No. 1 in 2012 and 2014 and didn't win either of them. So I've been on both sides of the coin here.” 

McIlroy spoke about feeling exhausted at this stage of a long season two weeks ago before the play-off opener at the Northern Trust. Despite his performance last week, he will stick to his plan to skip the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth and take two weeks off before the Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits.