McIlroy considers skipping Northern Trust

Rory McIlroy is pondering whether to miss the PGA Tour’s first FedEx Cup play-off event to ensure he is on top form for the Ryder Cup.

The Northern Irishman failed to shine in last week’s US PGA Championship, admitting there was “a lot of room for improvement” as he ended up in a share of 50th place at Bellerive Country Club.

It has been a decent season for the 29-year-old, with seven top-10 finishes and victory in the Arnold Palmer Invitational back in March.

However, with the start of the FedEx Cup play-offs looming large on August 23 in New Jersey followed by two more tournaments ahead of the season-ending Tour Championship, the four-time major winner feels it may be prudent to take off the first week in order to rediscover his top form.

“I will do some practice this week and see if I feel ready to go there and play five out of six weeks leading up to the Ryder Cup,” he said.

“The best thing might be to take that first Fed-Ex Cup week off and come back hopefully in a better place,” he added.

“Historically the first Fed-Ex play-off event hasn’t been my best of the four.”

The Ryder Cup takes place between September 28 and 30 at Le Golf National just outside Paris. Have a look here if you fancy placing a bet or two.