The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
McIlroy happy as outsider
Rory McIlroy insists he is happy just to have an outside shot at winning a third FedEx Cup title and 15 million US dollar (£10.9 million) first prize at this week’s season-ending Tour Championship.
McIlroy, who joined Tiger Woods as the only two-time winners of the event in 2019, starts the week at East Lake eight shots behind Patrick Cantlay under the controversial handicap system.
Starting in 2019, the player with the most FedEx Cup points starts the Tour Championship on 10 under par, in this case BMW Championship winner Cantlay, who beat Bryson DeChambeau on the sixth hole of a play-off on Sunday.
As the second-highest points earner, Tony Finau begins on eight under par, with DeChambeau at seven under and so on, on a sliding scale down to the players in 26th to 30th who start on level par.
McIlroy starts on two under but has previous experience of giving his rivals a head start and still emerging victorious.
“The first year that it was played in this format I started five back and I ended up winning the tournament by three,” McIlroy told a pretournament press conference.
“The people that have played well have an advantage. It’s not an insurmountable advantage like it has been in previous years where guys have turned up to the Tour Championship not having to do anything to win the FedEx Cup. You don’t want that to happen either.
“I think this is definitely the best format so far. There’s clarity for the players.
“There’s clarity for the fans. I think everyone that’s in the top 30 deserves to be here and then because of that everyone in the top 30 deserves to feel like they have a chance to win it all.
“I’m just happy to be here, to be honest. I was 28th going into last week at Caves Valley. I knew I needed at least a decent week to make it here and it turned out to be a bit better than that.
“I probably played some of the best golf I’ve played all year; not good enough to keep up with Patrick and Bryson, but certainly good enough to move up a few spots and get here this week.”
McIlroy shot 22 under par in Baltimore and still finished five shots out of the play-off, but the fourtime major winner expects scoring to be more difficult in Atlanta.
“I think East Lake isn’t the easiest golf course in the world and it seems to be a course that separates the field somewhat,” McIlroy added.
“So the way I look at it, if I go out tomorrow and shoot six under, for example, which is the score I shot last year in the first round, get to eight under par and some of those top guys shoot even par or even one or two over, all of a sudden you’re right in it.
“I think it just puts the impetus, especially for people that are in my position, the bottom half of the field, you just have to get off to a fast start.”
Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger meanwhile will try again to move into the automatic Ryder Cup qualifying places at a fitting venue following his agonising near miss in Switzerland.
Wiesberger needed to par the 72nd hole to win the Omega European Masters on Sunday, only to run up a double-bogey six after finding sand off the tee and hitting his second shot into the water surrounding the green.
A ninth European Tour title would have seen Wiesberger replace McIlroy in the European points list, with McIlroy instead qualifying via the world points list and thereby knocking Shane Lowry out of the automatic places.
Wiesberger can still make that scenario happen with a strong performance in this week’s DS Automobiles Italian Open at Marco Simone Golf Club in Rome, which will stage the 2023 Ryder Cup.
Ryder Cup talisman Ian Poulter and the event’s record points scorer Sergio Garcia are expected to receive two of Harrington’s wild cards, leaving the likes of Wiesberger, Lowry, Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson and Robert MacIntyre potentially battling for the final pick.
Harrington will announce his selections a few hours after the conclusion of the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth on September 12.
● US captain Steve Stricker has selected Phil Mickelson and Fred Couples as vice-captains. They join Love, Jim Furyk and Zach Johnson in Stricker’s backroom staff for the contest.