FedEx delivers for Memphis at WGC
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Rory McIlroy stood on the patio outside the Phil Cannon Media Center on Wednesday afternoon conducting an interview with United Kingdom-based Sky Sports that began in a totally unexpected manner.
“We love your openness,” interviewer Nick Dougherty said to preface his question.
Then McIlroy lived up to that billing, again launching into the story of why he cried last week after missing the cut at the British Open.
And he revealed he nearly cried four other times on the back nine during his second-round 65 at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland.
And he discussed the last time he played here in Memphis, when his finalround tee shot on No. 18 went in the water and cost him a chance to win the 2012 FedEx St. Jude Classic.
And if that weren’t enough introspection for one 15-minute news conference, he even discussed his faulty approach to the majors this year, moving into a new house this week, how he’s different now – on and off the course – compared to his last visit here seven years ago, and even the automatronic FedEx robot named Roxo that greeted him at No. 9 Wednesday with McIlroy bobbleheads to hand to the crowd.
His answers were thoughtful and insightful, and none of them ever would have happened in Memphis without the help of FedEx.
Let’s not forget that fact as the first World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational is underway.
Because one of the largest logistics companies in the world, the one that decided to put its headquarters in Memphis in 1973, the one that’s delivered many times before for the sports community in this town, delivered us all of the stars who will be on display this weekend at TPC Southwind.
“We always felt we deserved a worldclass golf event like we’re getting here right now,” FedEx CEO and President Don Colleran said last week. “We deserve it. The city deserves it. Most importantly, the kids at St. Jude Children’s Hospital deserve it.”
Usually I try to avoid mentioning the corporate giants that sponsor the events I’m covering. But there’s no avoiding FedEx’s role in making this week happen. Frankly, there’s no way it would have happened without it. This tournament is here in Memphis almost entirely because of it.
Now, there are probably people out there who look down on the notion that FedEx essentially bought Memphis a WGC event right in the backyard of its corporate headquarters. That say using the shipping giant’s title sponsorship of the PGA Tour and the FedEx Cup through 2027 as a negotiating tool isn’t necessarily fair.
Like the people of Akron, Ohio, who lost the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational because it’s now been morphed into the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational.
This, they might say, is corporate synergy at its worst.
But here in Memphis, the reaction was more like this: “Heck yeah, FedEx bought Memphis a WGC event!”
And, well, who really cares what anyone else might think? Money talks, and the best golfers in the world don’t seem to mind.
“With what FedEx does, to have it here, it makes it great for them,” said Brooks Koepka, the No. 1 golfer in the world. “They’ve got to love it, and it’s a fun place for us to come back.”
“We all know how much they’ve stepped up in supporting the PGA Tour, but we know that the World Golf Championships go a little bit deeper,” said Justin Rose, the world’s No. 4-ranked golfer. “Obviously FedEx’s involvement in golf is really spreading across the world, which is great.”
“They deserve to get it,” added Dustin Johnson, No. 2 in the world. “I thought it was a great move for the golf tournament to move to here.”
That brings us back to McIlroy, who more than likely wouldn’t have been here if this were still the FedEx St. Jude Classic and it were still being held the week before the U.S. Open. Just like Jordan Spieth, Bryson DeChambeau, Justin Thomas, Sergio Garcia, Jason Day and all of the other fantastic golfers who normally don’t come to Memphis that Memphians will get to watch this week.
Listening to McIlroy talk Wednesday, particularly about his emotions during last week’s Open Championship in his native Northern Ireland, you couldn’t help but realize he had plenty of reasons to skip this week’s event. Just like his friend and Open Championship winner Shane Lowry did.
Instead, though, he flew halfway across the world to be here.
“I didn’t cry because I missed the cut. I was overwhelmed by the support I got,” McIlroy said of the support he got at Royal Portrush. “I guess at the end of the day I didn’t think I meant as much to them, and I realized that they mean more to me than I thought they did.”
In a lot of ways, that’s the same sort of light this golf tournament has shined on FedEx’s relationship with Memphis.
It isn’t just another corporation. It’s this city’s most valuable corporation. Most everyone who lives here understands that. Sometimes we forget to savor it.
Sometimes we forget that even if this tournament didn’t deliver us Tiger Woods (yet), it still gave us McIlroy.