Rex Hoggard proposed an important question about Rory McIlroy after he faced criticism for skipping the first event of the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
The FedEx Cup playoffs begin at TPC Southwind with the St. Jude Championship, where the top 70 players in the FedEx Cup standings are supposed to fight it out to make it through to the BMW Championship.
However, McIlroy pulled out of the event, meaning only 69 players will tee off in Memphis. The top 50 players progress to the next round, and with McIlroy comfortably in the top 20, he chose to sit out the event as McIlroy prepares for the Ryder Cup in September.
It’s a sensible decision, as there is little to play for in Memphis for McIlroy. But the PGA Tour has criticised it, leading Hoggard to ask this question.
Rex Hoggard defends Rory McIlroy’s decision to miss the St. Jude Championship, ‘Is Rory McIlroy going to…’
The Daily Express reported that Peter Malnati, a player director on the PGA Tour Policy Board, is “very concerned” about McIlroy missing the playoff opener. He said the Tour is already discussing ways to close the “loophole” and force him to play in all future playoff events.
It’s one of the PGA Tour’s biggest events of the year, and one of the biggest events for FedEx, a large sponsor of the Tour. Naturally they want the biggest players competing in their biggest events.
But Hoggard questioned Malnati’s thinking. He said that the value that McIlroy has added to smaller events throughout the year outweighs the cost of him not playing in Memphis, where world number one Scottie Scheffler is among the stars competing.
Speaking on the Golf Channel Podcast, he said, “If you were to do a cost/benefit analysis, and tell me, ‘Is Rory McIlroy going to add more to playing Memphis, that has every top player except for one in the field, or what he was able to do pairing with Shane Lowry at the Zurich Classic?’
“I know it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison, but I have covered New Orleans for a long time, and I had never seen the amount of buzz that Rory created coming off that Masters victory, coming into town, and deciding to defend his title with his best friend.”
McIlroy’s Masters winning buzz was carried into the team event he played shortly afterwards with Lowry. He was unable to defend his 2024 title, but he brought massive attention to the tournament.
Hoggard continued, “I’m sure that was just a one-off, but if you look at it from the macro point of view, and you say, ‘Which one impacted the tournament more?’ I would say New Orleans by a mile.”
“Whatever loss FedEx is feeling without him being in the field, you can write that off. What he’s doing is better for professional golf overall.”
While the Tour looks for solutions, one was presented by Hoggard’s podcast co-host Ryan Lavner.
A solution for Rory McIlroy skipping the St Jude Championship was presented by Ryan Lavner
As the PGA Tour looks for a solution to the problem created by McIlroy, Lavner said they should turn the playoffs into a standalone competition.
Currently, the top 70 in the FedEx Cup standings qualify for the St. Jude Championship. Then, the top 50 in the standings progress to the BMW Championship, but the points carry over from the regular season to the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
Lavner suggested an alternative format, saying, “Wipe the points clean. Declare Scottie Scheffler the FedEx Cup champion after the regular season, and now everyone is starting at zero, just like it is in all of the other team sports.
“Rory McIlroy would not be skipping Memphis if all of a sudden the points were at zero. He would essentially be eliminated from the playoffs because he did not tee it up. That’s an easy way to get around it, it ensures participation, and then you could have any format you want.
“If you really want your big-name stars to be there, and if you want to have a ‘closing of the loophole’, wipe the points clean. Declare Scottie Scheffler the FedEx Cup regular season champion and then do whatever you want from a clean slate in the postseason.”
It makes sense. The increased FedEx Cup prize money, which saw Scheffler take home $18 million for finishing the season at the top of the standings, provides an incentive in itself to finish high up the leaderboard.
The PGA Tour has already changed the competition’s format to remove the strokes advantage that higher-ranked players previously took into the playoffs. Now, they all start at zero.
Lavner’s suggestion only increases the drama of the playoffs, and would guarantee participation.