Rory McIlroy reflects on individual significance of three FedExCup titles

ATLANTA – World No. 2 Rory McIlroy enters play at the TOUR Championship having won three previous FedExCup trophies. None of the three were alike, nor do they mean the same to the Northern Irishman.

As he heads into the 20th edition of the tournament, doubling as the FedExCup Playoffs finale, McIlroy said his 2016, 2019 and 2022 titles were “meaningful in their own ways” ahead of the culminating event scheduled to be reimagined in two years.

“2016 was very meaningful to me because I hadn’t (won),” McIlroy said Tuesday. “It was something that I hadn't accomplished in the game. And yeah, I didn't have the best year in 2016 in terms of other guys had bigger years, whether it was Jason Day or Jordan Spieth) or (Dustin Johnson) or whoever it was at the time. But that meant a lot to me.”

The former No. 1 golfer had been majorless for more than two years at the time of his first FedExCup. The title did not replace a major victory, of course, but reinforced, to himself and the world, his stature within the game.

Then came 2019, the inaugural year of the six TOUR Championships with Starting Strokes based on ranking, where McIlroy outdueled Brooks Koepka at the height of his powers, Koepka having defended his PGA Championship title at Bethpage Black a few months earlier. Similar to 2016, McIlroy had endured close calls in the majors leading up to it, namely losing a golden opportunity at the 2018 Masters after being in the final pairing with eventual green jacket-wearer Patrick Reed.

His trifecta was completed three years later at East Lake, and while the major drought persisted, McIlroy had the personal satisfaction of slowing (even so slightly) the meteoric rise of Scottie Scheffler, who broke through for his first TOUR win and achieved world No. 1 in a matter of weeks.

“You could argue that each of the FedExCups I've won I maybe wasn't the best player of the entire year, but I always felt like it was a way to redeem myself or end the year on a really positive note,” McIlroy said.

Going into each of his season-finale wins, McIlroy had racked up one, two and two victories, respectively, so he was not near Player of the Year caliber but didn't capture lightning in a bottle, either.

The FedExCup Playoffs format has evolved, to say the least, since McIlroy’s introduction to the TOUR Championship in 2012 – where he finished second in the final standings to Brandt Snedeker – but the 30-time PGA TOUR winner knows having a postseason is what matters.

“There's been a lot of changes to it, but all with the ambition to try to get it right,” McIlroy said. “I think this is a more exciting way to end the PGA TOUR season.”

He already can boast the most occasions of hoisting the FedExCup trophy, with Tiger Woods having two to his credit (2007, 2009), but this week once again brings about the chance for a rarified fourth. Plus, the 37-year-old has lifted the burden of checking the Grand Slam off his career to-do list with back-to-back Masters wins.

“It's a tournament that I've had quite a lot of success over the years. Maybe not quite as much since the course underwent its renovation a couple years ago, but hopefully I'll try to change that this week,” McIlroy said.