Rory McIlroy keen to assess where his game is during FedEx St Jude Championship

The Holywood player feels given his current situation the trip to Memphis – where he will play in a marquee pairing alongside Scottie Scheffler – will prove time well spent back out on the course.

Rory McIlroy hopes to be able to see “where my game is” when he returns to action at the FedEx St Jude Championship aiming to deliver a strong finish to the season.

Rory McIlroy hopes to be able to see “where my game is” when he returns to action at the FedEx St Jude Championship aiming to deliver a strong finish to the season.

The successful defence of his Masters title in April has been followed by a run of disappointing results, which saw McIlroy seventh at the US PGA before placing joint 32nd at the US Open and then tied for 40th at The Open at Royal Birkdale.

The Holywood player, currently 12th in the FedExCup standings, skipped the St Jude Championship last year, but feels given his current situation the trip to Memphis – where he will play in a marquee pairing alongside Scottie Scheffler – will prove time well spent back out on the course.

“I think having four weeks off going into the last two events of the year was probably going to be a little too much for me in terms of wanting to be competitive,” McIlroy said at a press conference.

“So this is a good week – obviously I want to play well, but it’s also a good week to just see where my game is, do a lot of practice, or as much as I can in the heat.

“I think it is important to be here. It’s the PGA Tour’s play-offs, and I think it’s important for all the players to be here.” 

McIlroy is also set to play at the Irish Open at Doonbeg next month, as well as the BMW Championship at Wentworth and the DP World India Championship before the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

Before that, though, the world number two remains fully focussed on the challenges ahead in the United States.

“I almost try to view the (FedExCup) play-offs as one big, long tournament, like a 12-round event. You have got to pace yourself. It is three long weeks,” he said.

“We are going from here to St Louis (BMW Championship) to Atlanta (Tour Championship) – every week is going to feel a bit like this. It is going to be hot and sweaty, so you want to be able to conserve energy as well.

“I have always tried to treat it like one big, long golf tournament and sort of get into the rhythm of it and go from there. I have been lucky enough to do pretty well on these things over the years, so I will try to add another one to the list.” 

Scheffler is returning to action for the first time since finishing runner-up at the 3M Open.

“I am excited,” the American world number one said. “I have three tournaments, three good starts to kind of end the year.” 

Justin Rose is the defending champion at TPC Southwind, where he will play the opening two rounds alongside American Michael Brennan. Tommy Fleetwood has been paired with Jordan Spieth and Matt Fitzpatrick with Wyndham Clark.

Shane Lowry is paired with Max Homa for his opening round. Lowry has struggled for form since missing out on the Cognizant Classic in March. The Offaly man currently sits 62nd in the FedEx Cup standings, and needs to finish in a two-way tie for 11th at worst to make the top-50 cut for the next playoff event.