Focused Rory McIlroy returns to happy hunting ground

Nobody does relaxed at East Lake like Rory McIlroy. For good reason, perhaps, given how he has traditionally dominated this end-of-season moneyfest on the PGA Tour.

The three-time FedEx Cup champion is back for another tilt at the Tour Championship aware that the weight of golf’s transitioning is no longer largely on his shoulders.

He can focus on his own game, and that’s a good thing surely.

Hatless, with no Nike branded headwear for a rare change in front of clicking cameras, McIlroy – the world number two – will, along with 29 other players, sign off on the PGA Tour season at the iconic East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta and most likely with his TaylorMade Spider putter back in the bag after using a Scotty Cameron at last week’s BMW Championship.

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“There was a lot of putts last week [at Olympia Fields] that had a lot of break on them from short distances, and I felt with the shorter line on the [Scotty Cameron] putter I just couldn’t trust my aim as much as when I have the spider and have that slightly longer line.

“I practised with it a good bit yesterday and it’s a familiar feel. I’ve done really well with that putter over the last few years. I’ve had some of my best putting weeks of my career at this golf course on these greens with that putter, so hopefully I can rekindle that again this week,” said McIlroy, who finished as FedEx Cup champion in 2016, 2019 and 2022.

McIlroy is the only three-time champion in the history of the FedEx Cup and is seeking to become the first player win it in back-to-back seasons. He enters the week at number three in the standings and three strokes back of leader Scottie Scheffler (starting on seven-under to Scheffler’s 10-under), actually the closest he has been since the starting strokes format was first used in 2019.

In attending a sponsors’ breakfast at the club, McIlroy was reminded he actually trailed Scheffler by 11 strokes after two holes of last year’s opening round.

“If I can come back from 11 shots, I feel like everyone in this field should feel like they have a chance to win,” observed McIlroy.

In truth, those words were fuelling nobody’s ambition as much as his own in the quest to overtake Viktor Hovland and chase down Scheffler in his quest to become a four-time FedEx Cup champion.

Tour Championship

Purse: €68,725,000 (€16.5m to the winner)

Where: Atlanta, Georgia, USA

The course: East Lake Golf Club – 7,346 yards Par 70 – was the home course of the legendary Bobby Jones. The course was originally designed by Tom Bendelow and the full 18 holes opened for play in 1907 before being upgraded by Donald Ross in 1913. The course fell into neglect in the 1960s and into the ‘80s but was resurrected in the early ‘90s by the East Lake Foundation which brought in Rees Jones as designer to restore it back to Ross’s layout. The signature hole is the Par 3 15th which was the first purpose built island green hole in the USA, which requires a carry of over 200 yards to carry the lake.

The field: Let’s just say it is an elite field (albeit without the ineligible LIV defectors), limited to the leading 30 players on the FedEx Cup standings on the PGA Tour. In this case, money really does talk; this is the conclusion of the FedEx Cup and, so, has a pot of $80 million (€68.7m) to be divvied out to those who made it all the way to the tour’s finale. The only player from the world’s top-10 who is missing is one of those LIV golfers, Cameron Smith.

Theoretically, each and every player in the field has a chance to win but, clearly, it is very much weighted in favour of those who start under par (with Scottie Scheffler commencing the tournament at 10 under, Viktor Hovland at eight under, Rory McIlroy at seven under, Jon Rahm at six under, Lucas Glover at five under . . . all the way down to those in 26th to 30th – Sam Burns, Emiliano Grillo, Tyrrell Hatton, Jordan Spieth and Sepp Straka – who start out on level par. The 30th placed player is guaranteed a €458,000 ($500,000) pay-day.

Quote-Unquote: “I think the last few years I’ve spoken about this format. It’s easier to understand. I don’t think it’s the best we can come up with. I think I’ve expressed my dislike towards the fact that you can come in ranked No. 1 in the FedExCup. You can win every single tournament up until this one. You have a bad week, you finish 30th, and now you’ll forever be known as 30th in the FedExCup this season. I don’t think that’s very fair.

“I did like the old format where, if you came in as No. 1, you really rarely ever fell out of the top 3. I thought that was a little bit better. And I know the people that are good with numbers and statistics and all this and that, and probability, they ran the numbers and I know they say this, basically, this format comes out to the same. But when you’re in fifth place you are, what, 5-under, so you’re five shots from the lead. But you’re also five shots from 30th place. So that to me just doesn’t make much sense” – Jon Rahm’s take on the staggered starting figures.

Defending champion: Rory McIlroy

Irish in the field: Only McIlroy has made it all the way to East Lake. Shane Lowry failed to make the FedEx Cup playoffs (he is playing the Czech Open this week on the DP World Tour as he seeks to improve his Ryder Cup wild card chances), while Séamus Power didn’t make it beyond the penultimate playoff tournament, the BMW Championship last week. McIlroy is paired with Jon Rahm for the first round (tee time 6.49pm Irish time).

Betting: Scottie Scheffler heads in as the firm 5/4 favourite with Rory McIlroy a 7/2 shot and Viktor Hovland 11/2, all tight odds in what is a limited 30 player field. McIlroy knows what it takes to win at East Lake – he is a three-time FedEx Cup champion – and is likely to give followers a good run. In terms of value, Patrick Cantlay’s 20/1 has greater appeal.

On TV: Live on Sky Sports (featured groups from 11.45am, with full coverage from 5.0pm).