Mental and physical workload adding up for tired McIlroy 

LONG SEASON: Ireland's Rory McIlroy tees off on the fourth hole during the second round of the BMW Championship. Pic: Matt York/AP

Rory McIlroy found himself more engaged on Tuesday at East Lake Golf Club, trying to relearn a golf course he’s known great success at in the Tour Championship. 

A complete offseason makeover of the golf course by architect Andrew Green has presented a test McIlroy said is “more interesting” than previous editions of the FedEx Cup season finale.

And while McIlroy has appeared more ready than ever for a season to be finished, he’s got a lot still to play for – both this week (with $100 million at stake to be divvied up among 30 players) and beyond.

The Tour Championship marks the 22nd start of the year for McIlroy, and he has six more events left in Europe (Irish Open, BMW PGA, Dunhill Links, Abu Dhabi and DP World Championship) to finish off his season. 

By most measures, his 2024 should classify as a successful campaign – three wins at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic, signature Wells Fargo Championship and Zurich Classic partnering with Shane Lowry as well as five other top-five global finishes – but you’d never be able to tell it by McIlroy’s recent body language.

He admittedly checked out a bit in the oppressive heat at the FedEx St. Jude Championship two weeks ago, where he finished T68 ahead of only Max Homa. 

He made every effort to finish strong in the BMW Championship in Colorado last week (T11), but even his half-hearted driver toss that bounced into a lake didn’t evoke much inner fire.

Truth is, he’s a little exhausted playing in the dog days of American summer in sweltering places like Memphis and Atlanta. 

And 28 weeks of golf in a calendar year is a lot. 

“It would have been 29 if I hadn’t pulled out of Travelers,” he noted of his unscheduled post-U.S. Open mental health break.

His schedule was built to excess a bit organically. 

He added a return to PGA National on the Florida swing and wanted to try playing the week before the Masters (Valero Texas Open). 

Then he and Lowry wanted to play the New Orleans team event together. 

The Olympics was a must-play addition and he’s chosen to go back to St. Andrews for the Dunhill to play with his father, Gerry, who’ll celebrate his 65th birthday when they play the Old Course.

“It’s a lot,” McIlroy admitted during his practice round on Tuesday at East Lake, illustrating his exhaustion with a feigned full-body slump. 

“It just sort of added up.” 

Adding to his physical fatigue is the mental burden from another missed opportunity to end the narrative of his 10-year major drought. 

McIlroy hasn’t seemed fully himself since his heartbreaking loss in the U.S. Open at Pinehurst, when he bogeyed three of the last four holes to lose by a shot to Bryson DeChambeau and immediately drove away without comment. 

He hasn’t had a whole lot to say since, eschewing many formal pre-tournament and post-round interviews as he has again this week at East Lake.

A lot of that has to do with fatigue – both physically and with answering the same questions week after week.

Still No. 3 in the Official World Golf Ranking, McIlroy feels like a distant third behind Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele, who combined to collect three majors, the Players and the Olympic gold medal and are the favorites this week to battle it out for the FedEx Cup and perhaps the PGA Tour player-of-the-year honors. 

McIlroy – the only three-time FedEx Cup champion – is usually in the heart of that conversation but he’ll begin this week tied for sixth at 4-under, six shots behind Scheffler and four back of Schauffele in the staggered starting-stroke scoring system for the season finale.

McIlroy has always felt comfortable at East Lake, winning three times in 10 years. But the 30-player field is learning an entirely new golf course this week, rebuilt since the conclusion of last year’s Tour Championship. 

Every hole and green complex presents completely new challenges that offer a bit of a reset for the field.

What McIlroy saw playing 18 holes on Tuesday with Matthieu Pavon pleased him.

“I like it; I like what Andrew does,” McIlroy said, comparing it to renovation work he’s familiar with at Oak Hill in Rochester, N.Y., and Congressional near Washington D.C. where he won the 2011 U.S. Open. 

“I think he done a good job with it.”