Rory McIlroy reminisces overcoming 11-shot deficit to win the TOUR Championship last year

Rory McIlroy is all set for the final playoff event, the TOUR Championship, which will commence on August 24. While he will start with a 7-under advantage at the East Lake Golf Course, he is still second to Scottie Scheffler with +330 odds to win the event.

The Irishman is the most successful player in the history of the FedEx Cup, with three titles. Last year, McIlroy had a stellar performance at Atlanta, where he inspired a win after overcoming an 11-stroke lead.

The PGA Tour shared a post on Twitter in which McIlroy was quoted as saying:

"If I can come back from 11 shots, I feel like everyone in this field should feel like they have chance to win."

Despite opening his TOUR Championship with a double bogey in the first hole, Rory McIlroy ended his first round with a score of 3 under 67. By that time, he was eight strokes behind the first-round leader, Scottie Scheffler.

He continued his consistency in the second round at East Lake Golf Course. He shot a bogey-less 3-under 67 with just three birdies to stay nine strokes behind the leader of the second round.

However, his scorecard saw an upsurge after his unbelievable 7 under 63 round on the third day. He carded six birdies in total and a beautiful eagle on the sixth hole. He jumped on the leaderboard and stood at the fifth rank.

In the final round of the 2022 TOUR Championship, Rory McIlroy shot a 4-under 66 to secure his third FedEx Cup title. He defeated tied runner-ups Scottie Scheffler and Sunjae Im by a margin of one stroke.

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Who is Rory McIlroy paired with for the first round of the 2023 TOUR Championship?

As mentioned earlier, the final playoff event will commence on August 24. The defending champion McIlroy, who is in their spot in the official FedEx Cup rankings, is paired with Jon Rahm, who is ranked fourth and is 415 points behind him. The duo is scheduled to tee off at 1:49 p.m. ET.

Rory McIlroy will have a 7-stroke advantage entering the 2023 TOUR Championship. Since the 2023 PGA Championship, he has not finished outside the top 10 on the leaderboard of any event.

Additionally, he started his 2022–23 PGA Tour season with a spectacular win at the CJ Cup in South Carolina and will look forward to ending it with a win as well.

The first-ranked golfer on the FedEx rankings, Scottie Scheffler, will start with a 10-stroke advantage in the final tournament. He is paired with Viktor Hovland, and they will tee off at 2:00 p.m. ET.

The 2023 TOUR Championship features a field of the top 30 players from the FedEx Cup rankings. According to its handicap system, all the players in the field are given a certain number of stroke advantages as per their rank after the BMW Championship.