Rory McIlroy hopes to use the next three weeks to “change the narrative” of his season as he looks to win a record fourth FedEx Cup title.
McIlroy has won twice around the world this season but is too cautious to let other opportunities slip through his fingers, most painfully at the US Open at Pinehurst and at the Olympic Games in Paris.
As a result, the 35-year-old heads into the first play-off event – the FedEx St Jude Championship at TPC Southwind – almost 3,500 points behind Scottie Scheffler, the world leader who has won six times on the PGA Tour before the Olympics. gold at Le Golf National.
“I definitely don't want to sit here and look down on everything I've achieved this year and what I've done, but at the same time I expect a certain level from myself,” said McIlroy.
“I've won a few times. I had a chance to win a few more times than that and I couldn't cross the line. So I'd like to add a few more to that win column.
“But like I said, there are still three tournaments left in this PGA Tour season. I think I actually have eight or nine tournaments left this year, but three on the PGA Tour to turn a good season into a great one.
“I think when a big part of the season has come and gone and you get this three-week opportunity to, I think, change the script a little bit or change the narrative and what that season means, I think it's inspiring. the reason and the reason I've played well in the play-offs for the last three years.”
FINISHING COMPETITIONS
Asked if there was anything he needed to do to shake off the “almost manly” tag he gave himself after the Olympics, McIlroy added: “I have to finish tournaments better.
“There have been glimpses where I've done it, like Quail Hollow (at the Wells Fargo Championship), for example. But obviously the US Open, the Olympics.
“I feel like this year and maybe the last few years I just found a way to hit the wrong shot at the wrong time. That might come down to being prepared and trying to practice a little less under pressure at home.
“You go through these things in golf and you go through these little challenges and you have to try to find a way through and my challenge right now is.
“It's really good but not good enough to take home silverware. It's just something I have to deal with.”
TRAVEL TRAINING
Scheffler has topped the FedEx Cup standings heading into the season-ending Tour Championship the past two years but has relinquished the two-stroke lead on both occasions.
McIlroy overturned a six-shot deficit in the final round at East Lake in 2022, while Viktor Hovland erased Scheffler's advantage at the end of the first round 12 months ago.
“I'm not really thinking about bragging rights (for the season) or anything like that, but I want to win the FedEx Cup,” Scheffler said.
“It is quoted as a race that lasts the whole season but at the end of the day it all comes down to East Lake. I haven't had my best stuff at East Lake for the past few years.
“I'm happy that they changed the subject a bit. It might give me new vibes there.”
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