Today marks the beginning of the 19th edition of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, an idea PGA Tour officials conceived in 2007 in the hopes that the game’s biggest names would continue playing deep into the late summer and early fall. Ironically, then, the biggest story at this week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship is about one of the tour’s biggest star, Rory McIlroy, deciding not to tee it up in Memphis. The Northern Irishman, second on the FedEx Cup points list, already has spots in the BMW Championship and the Tour Championship (plus $10 million in bonus money) locked up due to his regular-season success, allowing him to send his regrets to TPC Southwind.

Mind you, the potential for such a scenario is just what legendary golf writer Jaime Diaz foreshadowed . Under the headline “The Tour’s New Rac

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