Memphis blues: McIlroy shows up, still short
Viewership reveals clues to future schedule; U.S. Amateur match game
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Rory McIlroy is back in Memphis for playoff opener after skipping last season (Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
World No. 2 Rory McIlroy is in the field for this week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship, which was not always a certainty even though he was never in doubt of qualifying for the first of three FedEx Cup playoff events.
McIlroy skipped the Memphis tournament last year, which undoubtedly caused some consternation at PGA Tour headquarters. FedEx is the tour’s umbrella sponsor and the Masters champion skipping one of the marquee season-ending events isn’t ever going to sit well.
And yet, McIlroy has the kind of clout to say ‘no’ given his stature and popularity. He wasn’t required to play and his rank in the FedEx Cup standings was unlikely to change much, as he cited the year prior when he tied for 68th in Memphis and barely moved in the standings.
This year, he’s back but pushing the tour’s boundaries in another area — he’s unlikely to fulfill the 15 tournament minimum requirement for PGA Tour membership. Even playing all three playoff events, McIlroy will only reach 14 PGA Tour starts. This week is just his first start since the Open at Royal Birkdale and only his sixth since winning the Masters for the second consecutive year in April.
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Viewership numbers reveal why PGA Tour is abandoning January
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This angle was covered shortly after the U.S. Open when it became apparent that McIlroy was going to come up short this year — and he wasn’t too concerned about it. There was an insinuation that things have been worked out with PGA Tour leadership including CEO Brian Rolapp, although nothing official has been disclosed.
“The PGA Tour and I are in constant dialogue,” McIlroy said last month at the Scottish Open. “I speak to Brian and his team a lot. Not just about that but about everything else. We’ll figure it out. I made them aware that this could happen at the end of last year. They know.”
McIlroy has made it clear in recent years that he wants to cut back on his schedule. And even though he’ll play just 14 times on the PGA Tour — including the major championships and the Players — he’s got a busy fall planned on the DP World Tour, with events including the Irish Open, BMW PGA Championship, DP World India Championship and Australian Open in addition to any Race to Dubai season-ending events.
The reason this is even an issue is because of McIlroy’s membership situation with the DP World Tour. That is considered his “home tour” by the PGA Tour and he is allowed to play unlimited events in Europe and the Middle East without seeking a conflicting event release.
The tradeoff: you are required to play the 15 on the PGA Tour. Typically, there are no exceptions. For example, would Shane Lowry, who is from Ireland, get a pass? What about England’s Tommy Fleetwood? Probably not, unless there was an extenuating circumstance such as an injury or family matter.
For McIlroy, his only defense is … he’s Rory McIlroy. To deny him membership next year over one missed tournament would actually hurt the tour more than it would hurt him. He could accept sponsor invites, but not to the signature events. He’d miss more of the big events than just the single tournament he is short this year.
Precedent? Sure, it’s probably not great. But if you’re the tour, you can say to anyone who complains “win the career slam and three FedEx Cup titles and get back to us.”
It is also quite possible that McIlroy made a deal with the PGA Tour to show up at TPC Southwind this week. After skipping the Memphis event last year, it was certainly possible he’d do so again. In fact, had there not been three events between the Open and the first playoff event, McIlroy might have passed again.
“A few different things went into that decision,” McIlroy said Wednesday following the pro-am at TPC Southwind. “I think having four weeks off going into the last two events of the year was probably going to be a little too much for me in terms of wanting to be competitive. So this is a good week — obviously I want to play well, but it’s also a good week to just see where my game is, do a lot of practice, or as much as I can in the heat.
“I think it’s important to be here. It’s the tour’s playoffs, and I think it’s important for all the players to be here. I’ve had some good conversations with Brian Rolapp over the last couple weeks. I think it’s important for me to be here and show support and looking forward to teeing it up.”
Give McIlroy credit for being diplomatic. He’s commented previously that the new Tour Championship format — where all 30 players who get to East Lake in two weeks start with the same chance to win the FedEx Cup — doesn’t provide much inventive to move up in the standings when a top-30 spot is assured. Sure, there’s bonus money at stake, but it’s probably money he doesn’t need.
McIlroy didn’t go down that road on Wednesday. And we’ll see how inspired he is throughout the weekend.
The reason January golf is going away
If you’re wondering why the PGA Tour nixed the Hawaii tournaments and seems intent on eliminating tour events in January altogether, look no further than the final-round TV viewership numbers from 2026.
The Sports Business Journal compiled a chart of the final-round figures, and the only two tournaments that ended in Jan. 2026 barely drew flies compared to the rest of the PGA Tour schedule. Granted, the Sony Open in Hawaii (106,000 viewers) and The American Express (617,000) were the only tour events shown exclusively on cable’s Golf Channel, but compared to the third least watch event of the season (the Scottish Open, 1.944 million) they looked like Sham and Co. falling behind Secretariat at the Belmont.
Or worse, they stand out like a LIV event — even with world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and three-time 2026 winner Chris Gotterup as winners.
Golf can’t compete with the NFL playoffs, especially when it’s not even broadcast on a major network as they’re all tied up focusing on the professional football behemoth. So tour CEO Brian Rolapp, a former NFL executive, is not even going to try to put his new Championship Series up against the NFL playoffs come 2028.
Consider: the NFL drew more eyeballs to one game on Super Bowl Sunday (125.6 million viewers) than the PGA Tour has drawn in all of its 30 Sundays so far in 2026 combined (102.04 million).
