August marks a loud start of the FedExCup Playoffs, with the FedEx St. Jude Championship kicking off the postseason. Most Tour pros have treated the opener as a must-play, like a tradition. Rory McIlroy, however, skipped the event entirely last August. His own math justified the call, but it didn’t stop the Tour-wide debate about star power and playoff commitment. However, after the controversy, he has responded by making a different choice for the $20 million event.

The FedEx St. Jude Championship’s official account confirmed it on X, posting a graphic of McIlroy in Memphis colors with a simple caption. “The roars just got louder in Memphis,” it said. Yes, Rory McIlroy will tee off at the FedEx St. Jude Championship in what might be the last year of the tournament. His presence in the competition becomes extremely important precisely for three reasons.

Rory McIlroy doesn’t care about the first playoff, so why is he playing?

Well, to answer that question, you need to go back exactly a year.

Rory McIlroy has played at TPC Southwind exactly eight times in his career and finished as high as T3 in 2023. He also has two other top-ten finishes. So why does he not like to play the first playoff event? Well, it has more to do with rational choice than with course fit. And therein lies the problem. At least for the PGA Tour.

Rory McIlroy was no. 2 in the FedExCup Standings when he decided to skip the Memphis stop in 2025. Players inside the top 50 in the FedExCup after Memphis automatically qualify for the next event. And no one was in a reasonable position to kick Rory out of the top 50. So, his logic was pretty simple. He was already qualified for the second playoff event, so why bother? That left a giant hole in the PGA Tour’s plan.

The Tour bills the Playoffs as the most important stretch of the year, in which one player will eventually be crowned the season-long champion. Playoff points are weighted four times as heavily as those in a regular event. The win is worth 2,000 FedExCup points. It decides who keeps a chance at the Tour Championship and who doesn’t.

The system is flawed. Everyone knew. Scottie Scheffler called it silly, but no one nonchalantly skipped the first event still. Rory did and made the problem very evident. No wonder a board member was concerned.

“Very concerned,” Peter Malnati, a player director on the PGA Tour Policy Board, said last year about McIlroy’s decision to skip FedEx St. Jude. “I think there is stuff in the works [to keep it from happening again], and I’ll leave it at that.”

So has Rory been forced to change his decision?

Well, that’s anyone’s guess now. But what is known is just a month back at the 2026 Open Championship, Rory showed no sign of relenting.

“I need to be in the top 30 going in there [East Lake] to have a chance to win the FedExCup. So why would I care about the first two [events]?” McIlroy said from Royal Birkdale.

A month later, Rory seemed to have found some reason to “care” about at least the first one. FedEx is arguably the PGA Tour’s biggest sponsor. A star player, and possibly the PGA Tour’s most recognizable face, missing from its flagship event is not good optics.

As for the policy change that Peter Malnati had hinted at, there hasn’t been any movement on that. A lot has changed since then. Brian Rolapp introduced a two-tiered system that will come into effect in 2028. And not to forget, the Memphis stop itself is not going to be part of the tier-one Championship Series event.

So by all means, McIlroy could’ve easily skipped the tournament and no one would’ve batted an eye. But it might have brought back another problem that has just receded.

This might be the reason Rory McIlroy decided NOT to skip another tournament

The PGA Tour requires a golfer to play a minimum of 15 events to retain their tour card. Rory McIlroy has played only 11 tournaments this season, and from his schedule it was evident the Ulsterman would miss the number. He will finish at 14.

McIlroy has already been granted leeway, available only to overseas pros. The PGA Tour CEO can let a player retain his tour despite falling short of the criteria. In a way, it’s the veto power of the CEO.

Brian Rolapp clearly didn’t see any benefit in scrapping McIlroy’s tour card. No sane executive would want their star player out for a season or sacrifice the eyeballs and sponsorship revenue in the name of fairness and equality for all. And McIlroy did withdraw from the Arnold Palmer Invitational due to an injury.

But when the decision was made public thanks to a report from Bob Harig of The Daily Drive, it caused some furor. Some called it favoritism toward the elite few; some considered it a reward for his past defense of the PGA Tour when LIV Golf came about.

Those voices have quieted now, but if Rory McIlroy skipped another tournament despite being healthy, the debate might have started again.

So, it’s quite plausible that McIlroy was advised to tee off at Memphis. The six-time major winner did say that he was in constant touch with Rolapp and his team.

Now, McIlroy is back on the course, and he’s not the only one. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler will also tee off at TPC Southwind.