'A way to redeem myself' - Rory McIlroy targets FedExCup glory

The Northern Irishman is hunting another massive payout as the PGA Tour finale gets underway at East Lake this week. For the second straight year, all 30 TOUR Championship players will start the tournament on even footing. The winner will scoop a cool $10 million for his efforts.

McIlroy arrives in Georgia with just one win under his belt for 2026. But it was significant, to say the least. McIlroy's maiden Masters title made him just the sixth player to achieve a career grand slam.

Otherwise, he's recorded five top ten finishes in his 13 starts. But McIlroy is a hard taskmaster and he feels he's underperformed.  

"You could argue that each of the FedExCups I've won I maybe wasn't the best player of the entire year, but I always felt like it was a way to redeem myself or end the year on a really positive note," the six-time major winner told the press this week.

"There's been a lot of changes to it, but all with the ambition to try to get it right. I think this is a more exciting way to end the PGA TOUR season.

"It's a tournament that I've had quite a lot of success over the years. Maybe not quite as much since the course underwent its renovation a couple years ago, but hopefully I'll try to change that this week," McIlroy said.

McIlroy already stands alone as the only player to win the lucrative FedEx Cup three times, namely in 2016, 2019 and 2022. Last year, he finished runner-up to the indomitable Scottie Scheffler.

"2016 was very meaningful to me because I hadn’t [won before]," reflected McIlroy.

"It was something that I hadn't accomplished in the game. And yeah, I didn't have the best year in 2016 in terms of other guys had bigger years, whether it was Jason Day or Jordan Spieth or (Dustin Johnson) or whoever it was at the time. But that meant a lot to me."

McIlroy tees off alongside Xander Schaufelkle on Thursday.