When it was confirmed that Rory McIlroy would be skipping the opening round of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, a debate began over whether the World No.2 should be allowed to do it.
He is the only one of 70 eligible players not in the field for this week's $20 million no-cut FedEx St Jude Championship at TPC Southwind, apparently preferring to save some gas for the remaining Playoff events, the Ryder Cup and his international schedule which will close out the year.
In addition, the Northern Irishman has just banked an extra $10 million as a result of placing second in the FedEx Cup standings and Comcast Business Tour Top 10 to end the regular season.
Those in support have respected McIlroy's ability - as an independent contractor - to compete when and wherever he wishes while noting his comfortable position near the top of the FedEx Cup standings and a guaranteed place at the Tour Championship.
However, people in the opposite camp believe McIlroy's absence partially undermines the credibility of the Playoffs and shows a lack of respect to the PGA Tour's biggest sponsor - one which has put up its usual $100 million in 2025 alone.
As a member of the latter group, PGA Tour player director, Peter Malnati admitted his disappointment at the five-time Major winner's call and suggested he will be backing a possible closing of the loophole which enables McIlroy to rock up at the BMW Championship as if nothing has happened.
Asked by Golfweek if Malnati was at all concerned about such a high-profile name choosing to sit out a Playoff tournament, the two-time PGA Tour winner replied: "Very concerned."
Golfweek then followed up with a question about whether there could be any measures added in the future to stop this kind of scenario from reoccurring, to which Malnati said: “I think there is stuff in the works and I’ll leave it at that.”
As it stands, there are no direct penalties or punishments for McIlroy (or anyone else for that matter) taking a week off during the Playoffs. It may just affect their position in the standings and - as a consequence - their potential finishing position which dictates how much FedEx Cup Playoffs prize money they will earn.
Webb Simpson - another of the PGA Tour's player directors - also confirmed the subject would be looked into but admitted he did not have an issue with McIlroy's decision.
“I think it’s too hard of a thing to make guys have to play. We’re still a sport where you can play when you want to play,” he said.
The 2012 US Open champion went on to share a brief tale from 2020 when he skipped the BMW Championship in order to return for the Tour Championship a little fresher while third in the FedEx Cup standings.
Simpson told Golfweek: “I knew I couldn’t fall more than one spot and I thought losing one stroke at East Lake was worth a week of rest because I was toast. I don’t know Rory’s reason but I totally get it. It’s a hard to thing to fix."
While players missing FedEx Cup Playoff events is hardly a new phenomenon, it is certainly not a regular occurrence, either.
Tiger Woods withdrew from the very first tournament in 2007 due to fatigue following consecutive triumphs (before going on to win the Cup anyway via two more successive victories, ending with the Tour Championship).
Since then, McIlroy opted to take a week off from the 2015 Barclays and 2018 Northern Trust as well, adding on to Simpson's own experience.
But the relative lack of examples over the course of 18 years backs up Jordan Spieth's theory that the PGA Tour need not worry too much, though they will likely attempt to further protect their most valuable asset regardless in the coming months.
The former PGA Tour player director said: “You might have one or two guys do that for an event, but I don’t think it will become a thing because they are still huge events against the best players in the world.
“I think they’re trying to figure out how to make sure you don’t skip both of them and ideally neither of them.”
McIlroy's remaining schedule this year includes the final two PGA Tour FedEx Cup Playoff events, the Irish Open, the BMW PGA Championship, the Ryder Cup, the DP World India Championship and the Australian Open as well as a couple of other DP World Tour competitions.
By the end of the year, he will be expected to have played in 25 weeks as well as the inaugural TGL season.
