Six-time major winner Rory McIlroy had a week to forget in Memphis. The Irishman struggled at the FedEx St. Jude Championship and has to immediately address his swing issues before the next playoff event.

McIlroy came off a long break since The Open and failed to find his rhythm. Unable to break par in any of his rounds, the Irishman finished right at the bottom. 

“Almost felt like the more the week went on, the more I felt lost with the golf swing a little bit,” McIlroy said after his final round. “I guess nice to shake the rust off a little bit, but I’m going to have to work pretty hard between now and next Thursday to feel like I have any sort of golf game to compete next week.” 

McIlroy finished 66th of 68 at 8-over par, a result that left little doubt about the week's toll. It was a rare disappointing week for the veteran.

McIlroy fell in the FedExCup rankings from 12th to 14th. Although the Irishman is in no danger of missing out on the top-30, he needs to work on his swing issues.

“I think when you’re sort of working through some stuff in your swing, then you start to, I certainly do, sometimes lose awareness of the target,” McIlroy said, as per PGA Tour's Will Gray. “You start to make the golf swing more important than the golf shot sometimes, and that’s obviously not a good thing, either.” 

Despite being one of the Tour's best drivers, McIlroy finished 62nd out of 68 players in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green and 65th in SG: Off-the-Tee. 

McIlroy’s game is far off the track. The 37-year-old will now head to the Bellerive Country Club, where he has just played once in his whole career. 

On top of that, the World No. 2’s PGA Tour membership is also in question.

Rory McIlroy’s membership scrutiny

Playing at The FedEx St. Jude Championship seemed like a last-minute decision for Rory McIlroy. Despite that, the six-time major winner won’t be reaching the 15-event minimum required to maintain his “home-tour” status. 

However, after talks with Tour commissioner and CEO Brian Rolapp, McIlroy believed his membership issue would eventually be sorted.

"[Rolapp] and I have been in constant dialogue, basically since he took the job last year,” said McIlroy, as per Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard on August 12. “I think we’ve built up a really good relationship and, yeah, we’ve had a couple of conversations last week about what I can do with the Tour going forward to, I guess, fulfill the obligation to, I guess, keep my membership.”

The notable pair will reportedly figure it out. McIlroy also has an extended schedule, after the season-ending Tour Championship, on the DP World Tour.

As a “global player”, McIlroy will look to gain the discretionary exemption from Rolapp, which shall allow a reduction in the minimum event requirement. At the moment, the 37-year-old is at 12 and will likely reach only 14.

Written by

Avishek Sarkar

Edited by

Rudra Dubey