21st Sep 2015 | Tour Championship
McIlroy Can Thrive Out Of Spotlight
Finished T10-T2 at East Lake and ranked third in strokes gained tee-to-green last week.
Rory McIlroy lost his place at the head of the official world rankings at the weekend, with Jason Day moving to number one.
Having missed a large chunk of the season through injury, I doubt McIlroy is too concerned but it is still useful motivation going into the final event of the PGA Tour season.
He recorded his best finish since May with a T4 last week at Conway Farms and his ball striking was back to its best.
McIlroy was third in the strokes gained tee-to-green (9.5) but it was his putting that prevented him from finishing higher.
The 26-year-old has always been a streaky putter but when they drop (and they will) he will be near the top of the leaderboard.
McIlroy has finished T10-T2 at East Lake, stumbling both times in the final round. This time he enters the finale ninth in the FedEx standings, so the FedEx Cup and $10million bonus is out of his hands.
To a certain extent he can free-wheel through the tournament and concentrate on his own game. That makes him a very dangerous player and a good betting prospect at 7/1 (Stan James).
Odds correct at time of publishing: 12:01 21st Sep, 2015 but subject to change