AUGUST 6, 2025

Welcome back to the Fried Egg Golf Newsletter! Today Brendan Porath explains why a "Rory Rule" won't make a difference for the FedEx Cup Playoffs, we highlight a couple of picks for the first leg of the PGA Tour's postseason, and share our latest course profile video. Let's get to it!

THE RORY RULE

The FedEx Cup does not have a Rory McIlroy problem and does not need a Rory McIlroy rule. In case you have not heard, Rory is the only player of the eligible 70 to not enter this week’s first leg of the playoffs, the FedEx St. Jude WGC Barclays Northern Trust Classic Championship. In any other walk of life, someone using their free will to pass on a mid-August trip to Memphis for outdoor activities would not raise an eyebrow. It would be considered sensible and obvious. 

But Rory is the PGA Tour’s most popular player, and this is the start of the Tour’s playoffs, and the hometown courier service not only sponsors the event but the whole damn system. Rory is probably grateful for that patronage. No one has made more in the playoffs – $69,515,615, to be exact. But those winnings are not all owing to one sponsor, and he had a hand in achieving those earnings. Just as he has a hand in deciding where and when he’ll play.

So he’s not there, and because he’s absent, we have discourse on loopholes that need closing and more playoff problems. Peter Malnati, who is also not in Memphis because he did not qualify, said he was “very concerned” about this development. This quote comes via an article by the excellent reporter Adam Schupak, who added in his article, with Malnati’s insights, that there are ongoing discussions to address this form of truancy. Schupak calls on new CEO Brian Rolapp to close this loophole with what could be called the McIlroy Rule, as his absence this week “damages the credibility of the FedEx Cup.”

I would gesture broadly at the last 19 years of the FedEx Cup damaging the credibility of the FedEx Cup more so than McIlroy’s one-week bypass. It’s been a constant state of change, from points predicaments to changing the total number of events to schedule swaps to a low-net tournament. We’re told next year will likely bring another overhaul with a new Tour Championship format. It’s not Rory’s fault the Tour, in its evolution where title sponsorship seemed most sacred, decided to abandon markets like New York and Boston in late September to drop anchor in the Sweat Seas of Memphis and Atlanta in August. 

The playoffs can be tweaked and improved at the margins, but they are what they are. Rory skipping Memphis is not some great line that has been crossed to undermine the over-promoted cup. It was at the BMW Championship four years ago, where he is supposed to return next week, that Rory reiterated that “it’s hard to feel fresh at this time in the season,” so it was nice the playoffs could be distinguished as “more of an entertainment product rather than the majors.” I don’t mean to sound beaten down and defeated but … the Players is the Tour’s best event and has been admirably elevated in recent years, while the playoffs are an end-of-season money bath that give some animating purpose to the other events of the season but will never be anything close to the premiere events in golf, regardless of rules, corollaries, or schedule changes. 

Creating a Rory Rule is not changing shit, and this is before we open up the can of worms about forcing independent contractors to play certain dates. We’ve done five years of revolving door arguments and changes about that already. Besides, Rory might just be a true outlier based on his season, stature, and current place on the career timeline. He’s the only one who took a pass. If we’ve learned anything from the past five years, the pros like their money, and this week offers a large sum, guaranteed, and with no cut. That’s what the playoffs will continue to be, regardless of whether one’s presence is mandated or not.

SAN FRANCISCO’S TILTED CHAMPIONSHIP TEST

Site of five U.S. Opens and host of this year's U.S. Amateur, Olympic Club's Lake Course has managed to maintain its stout championship reputation through a combination of difficult, reverse camber fairways that sit across extreme topography, unforgiving Cypress trees, and cold, damp weather. Originally constructed in the mid-1920's, a recent renovation by Hanse Golf Course Design has worked to restore the course's old-school look and feel buy bringing features back onto the ground, opening up vistas across the property, and expanding greens (a little) to bring back hole locations on Olympic's generally small, tilted greens. 

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• The most highly trained fitters in the world, thanks to their in-house university that trains every fitter.
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• Career fitters who fit all day, every day, with no distractions by accessories, lessons, or anything else.
• Every store has over 65 brands, which equates to nearly 70,000 (!!!) different head and shaft combinations. 
• Equipment for every golfer and every swing: tall, short, faster swing, slower swing, ladies, juniors, seniors, beginners, pros. Club Champion has you covered.

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Our membership program, Fried Egg Golf Club, provides Pro Shop and Events benefits and offers up exclusive content such as Design Notebooks, new-look Course Profiles, member chats, and more like the following:

Chocolate Drops – Garrett Morrison shares some underrated holes to watch as Bandon Dunes hosts the 2025 U.S. Women’s Open.

OUR LATEST CONTENT

School of Golf Architecture – This week we took a look at tree removal in golf course design and how the practice still has its opponents despite its continued use across the world. We also shared a reverse camber explainer.

The Shotgun Start Podcast – Andy Johnson and Brendan Porath begin playoff szn with a discussion on a possible "Rory Rule" after McIlroy announced he won’t play this week in Memphis. The guys also discuss the DP World Tour's notables list, the U.S. Women's Amateur at Bandon Dunes, and of course, the latest Creator Classic. Watch or listen here.

The Mixed Bag – Meg Adkins and Matthew Galloway break down all the AIG Women’s Open action, from Miyu Yamashita’s steady path to victory to Charley Hull’s thrilling Sunday run. The pair share their thoughts on Royal Porthcawl as a Women's Open venue, dig into the recent dominance of Japanese players, and provide some overall thoughts on this year's major winners. Listen on Apple and Spotify.

Paulie's Picks – Two ball-striking picks to target this week at the FedEx St. Jude Championship.

PRO SHOP

It’s a trucker hat. It’s a rope hat. It’s the best of both worlds! Plus, it’s got our potato chip green patch on the front. 

TEE TIMES

The PGA Tour postseason tees off (without Rory McIlroy) with the FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind. The DP World Tour is in Scotland for the Nexo Championship, while the Korn Ferry Tour heads to Nebraska for the Pinnacle Bank Championship. 

On Friday, LIV Golf Chicago will return to Bolingbrook. The Senior Circuit is back stateside in Washington at the Boeing Classic.