Tranlate this title Rory McIlroy admits he felt ‘lost’ after frustrating FedEx St. Jude return in spanish

Rory McIlroy has experienced both another historic success and some difficult periods during his 2026 season, and his latest performance showed that even the world No. 2 is still searching for consistency.

The Northern Irishman produced his biggest moment of the year at Augusta National, where he successfully defended his Masters title. It was his sixth major championship and came one year after his first Green Jacket completed the career Grand Slam. However, the Masters remains his only victory of the 2026 season.

There have been several quieter results since then. McIlroy finished T32 at the U.S. Open and was only T40 at The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, ending that week at one under par. He then decided to spend several weeks away from competitive golf before returning for the FedEx St. Jude Championship, the opening event of the FedExCup Playoffs.

The break gave McIlroy time to recharge, but Memphis quickly showed the other side of taking so much time away.

The 37-year-old finished 66th in the 68-man field at TPC Southwind after rounds of 74, 70, 72 and 72 left him eight over par. He failed to break par in any of his four rounds.

McIlroy admits his swing became a problem

McIlroy did not try to hide his disappointment after Sunday’s final round.

“Obviously didn’t come in here with a ton of reps, almost felt like the more the week went on, the more I felt lost with my golf swing a little bit,” McIlroy said.

“I figured it out a little bit the last few holes today, I think. Yeah, swing wasn’t in sync and obviously didn’t do a ton of practice coming in here.”

There were at least a few positive signs near the end. McIlroy made five birdies over his final 10 holes, although bogeys at the 17th and 18th prevented him from finishing the tournament on a more positive note.

The six-time major champion admitted that four competitive rounds were useful after his time away, but he knows much more work is required before the second playoff event.

“I guess 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.”

The 37-year-old plans to spend the days before the BMW Championship working with longtime coach Michael Bannon and caddie Harry Diamond.

His priority is not to completely rebuild his swing. Instead, he wants to find better rhythm and execute what he is already trying to do.

“Just try to get the swing into some sort of better sync and better flow,” he said.

“The execution wasn’t there this week.

I’m going to have to sort of put the head down and grind from now until Thursday to try to feel like I have any sort of chance next week.”

McIlroy also admitted that thinking too much about his swing mechanics during the tournament made matters more difficult. His normally reliable tee-to-green game was one of his biggest problems in Memphis.

Another chance is coming quickly

The good news for McIlroy is that his disappointing week did little damage to his FedExCup position.

He dropped only one place and sits 13th in the standings heading into the BMW Championship at Bellerive Country Club. The top 50 qualified for St. Louis, while the field will then be reduced to 30 players for the Tour Championship.

In fact, the PGA Tour has confirmed that McIlroy is already guaranteed a place at the season-ending Tour Championship regardless of his BMW result.

That gives him some freedom to concentrate on finding his game rather than worrying about qualification.

Bellerive will not be completely unfamiliar. McIlroy previously competed there at the 2018 PGA Championship, finishing tied for 50th.

Before the playoffs started, McIlroy described the three events as one long tournament and stressed the importance of managing his energy. He also made clear that he wanted another opportunity to add to his FedExCup record.

McIlroy has already won the season-long competition three times, more than any other player, and is chasing a record-extending fourth title and his first since 2022.

Memphis was clearly not the start he wanted, but there is still time to change the picture. McIlroy has shown many times that his form can improve quickly. The BMW Championship will now show whether four difficult rounds at TPC Southwind were simply the result of rust or something that requires more time to fix.

An experienced golfer has high expectations, aware that he possesses the necessary qualities to win the biggest tournaments.