Rory McIlroy makes his 2025 FedEx Cup Playoffs debut this week at the BMW Championship -- a week later than everyone else in the field. The world No. 2 returns for his first competitive outing since The Open (hosted in his home country of Northern Ireland), playing in the United States for the first time in two months.

While McIlroy did not lose any ground in the FedEx Cup standings by sitting out the postseason opener last week at the St. Jude Championship, his absence at TPC Southwind has brought up questions about whether the current playoff format works for the PGA Tour.

Combined with the Tour's decision in May to shed the Tour Championship of its tiered long-held starting strokes format -- first implemented in 2019 -- the FedEx Cup Playoffs has perhaps lost some of its identity. Is

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