Rory McIlroy ‘far away from where I need to be’ after struggling in Memphis

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – After completing a lackluster week at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, Rory McIlroy made it clear there’s work to be done if he’s going to challenge for an unprecedented fourth FedExCup title later this month.

McIlroy had not played competitively since The Open before arriving this week at TPC Southwind, and the two-time Masters champ admitted that he “didn’t come in here with a ton of reps.” He struggled to build any momentum throughout the tournament, as McIlroy failed to break par in any of his four rounds on the par-70 layout and finished at 8 over, 66th out of a 68-man field.

“Almost felt like the more the week went on, the more I felt lost with the golf swing a little bit,” McIlroy said after a 2-over 72 in the 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 got off to a rough start to the final round but took some solace from his closing stretch, which included five birdies across his final 10 holes. After starting the week at 12th in the FedExCup standings, McIlroy was only projected to fall to No. 14 in points when he signed his card. Regardless of his result next week in St. Louis at the BMW Championship, he’s assured of making it to the 30-man TOUR Championship where he’ll look to lift the FedExCup for the first time since 2022.

But in order to do so, he’ll need to make a quick fix to his tee-to-green game. McIlroy was ranked 62nd out of 68 players in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green and 65th in SG: Off-the-Tee when he finished his round, and he lamented timing issues in his swing that plagued him throughout play.

“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,” he said. “You start to make the golf swing more important than the golf shot sometimes, and that’s obviously not a good thing, either.”

McIlroy has only played Bellerive Country Club once before in his competitive career, finishing T50 at the 2018 PGA Championship that was won by Brooks Koepka. He’ll head there Tuesday, after a quick trip home, to make some adjustments with swing coach Michael Bannon and caddie Harry Diamond.

While the blank slate of the BMW Championship leaderboard offers some solace after a disappointing result, he’s not shying away from the turnaround required inside the ropes.

“I’m just so far away from where I need to be to even feel like I have a chance,” McIlroy said. “I’ve just got to keep working and hope it turns around a little bit.”