21 August 2023 , 18:12
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Rory McIlroy has issued a strong warning to his fellow PGA Tour stars, as the Northern Irishman gears up to defend his FedEx Cup title at the Tour Championship this week.
McIlroy heads into the season finale third in the standings, and will start three shots behind leader Scottie Scheffler in the staggered stroke event on Thursday. The 33-year-old heads into the week as the defending champion, and the only man to win three FedEx Cup crowns in the Tour's history.
There is no doubt McIlroy will be keen to add to that tally come this Sunday, and the four-time major winner goes to East Lake in fine form, having finished in the top-10 in all of his last nine events, including victory at the Scottish Open in July.
His latest impressive showing came at the second FedEx Cup playoff the BMW Championship last weekend, as McIlroy came fourth, five shots behind eventual champion - and Ryder Cup teammate - Viktor Hovland.
It was another solid showing from McIlroy, especially from tee to green, after he found 75% of greens in regulation. Clearly in a good spot, the former world No. 1 warned his rivals that his game is feeling as good as ever heading to Atlanta.
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Speaking after his final round of the BMW Championship on Sunday he said: "Yeah, I'm playing great tee to green, the best I've played in a long time. [I am] Going to have to drive the ball probably a little straighter, but I felt like I found something on the back nine there today to go into next week.
"But overall I'm in a really good position going into next week, so excited for it." Whilst McIlroy feels more than comfortable with his play from tee to green, the Northern Irishman is still battling to find his best form on the putting surface, with his choice of putter causing debate in recent months.
Rory McIlroy is defending his FedEx Cup title this week (Getty Images)Ahead of the FedEx Cup playoffs, the Northern Irishman opted for a Scotty Cameron Phantom X T5.5 Tour Prototype mallet, replacing the TaylorMade Spider X. In the weeks following the 33-year-old has seen some improvement to his game on the greens, but admitted on Sunday that he may revert back to his former putter.
"I might dabble with the Spider again on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Tour Championship," he added. "I felt like I hit good putts. Again, I holed some really good putts and I missed some short ones, and sort of hard here with the short ones and how much break they had and with the grain sort of -- I always felt like I was aiming too high and then I'd miss them low because I just couldn't commit to aiming it so far outside the hole.
"Getting back on greens that I know pretty well and pretty confident on next week, I'm looking forward to that."