Rory McIlroy finished 66th at the St Jude Championship, the first event of the FedEx Cup playoffs, and was criticized for his performance, with Fox News accusing him of 'mailing it in'—the American equivalent of 'phoning it in'. The Masters champion ended 25 strokes behind winner Scottie Scheffler.
Criticism from Fox News and Sports Illustrated
Fox News had little sympathy for the world No. 2, stating: "He didn't want to be there and made that widely known before Thursday's opening round, yet the mailing it in we saw from the six-time major champion was embarrassing. Yes, future Hall of Famers have bad weeks, but posting 8-over and finishing 25 shots behind the winner deserves criticism."
Sports Illustrated also questioned McIlroy's motivation, noting his spot in the year-end Tour Championship was all but secured before the event. Their report read: "The two-time Masters champion showed up to Memphis extremely rusty and was never a factor. He finished in 66th place with a score (+8) that was better than just two other players."
McIlroy's Reduced Schedule and Response
McIlroy, who skipped the tournament in 2025, had hinted he might take the weekend off again but opted to play after suggestions the PGA might introduce rules preventing him from sitting out in future. In 2025, Peter Malnati, a player director on the PGA Tour Policy Board, said: "I think there is stuff in the works and I'll leave it at that."
McIlroy pointed to a lack of rhythm, having played a reduced schedule this year. He said: "I'm so far away from where I need to be to even feel like I have a chance. I've just got to keep working and hope it turns around a little bit. It almost felt like the more the week went on the more I felt lost with my golf swing a little bit."
He added: "I guess [it was] nice to shake the rust off a little bit but I'm going to have to work pretty hard between now and next Thursday to feel like I have any sort of golf game to compete next week. To me it's more about the execution of what I'm doing right now, and the execution wasn't there this week."
