Rory McIlroy continued his rankings slump on the back of a T58 finish at the BMW Championship as he dropped to eighth in the world.
The Northern Irishman had just one round in the 60s at the third playoff event as he failed to play his way into the Tour Championship.
McIlroy revealed that his decision to play in the FedExCup – which was in serious doubt after the PGA Championship due to his ongoing injury troubles – was not his alone.
‘Some decisions aren’t completely up to the individual,’ McIlroy said.
‘There were outside expectation from elsewhere.
‘I played these events for two reasons: thinking that I still had a chance, but also trying to fulfil obligations elsewhere. So there were two parts to it.’
McIlroy has one last chance to win this season when he lines up at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in two weeks as he bids to continue his streak of at least one win every year since 2008.
Louis Oosthuizen dropped one spot this week after he finished T63, despite weekend rounds of 66 and 67. He joins McIlroy in the list of high profile absentees at Eastlake. Next-best Charl Schwartzel and Branden Grace followed Oosthuizen in dropping down the list this week. In fact, George Coetzee was the only South African in the top 10 to make a positive move after his T3 finish at the KLM Open.
At the top of the world ranking the top five remain unchanged, with Jason Day moving up three to 6th, Rickie Fowler behind him after moving the same number of places with McIlroy, followed by Ryder Cup teammates Henrik Stenson – who also misses the Tour Championship – and Sergio Garcia.
Top 10 South African rankings:
Louis Oosthuizen – 21
Charl Schwartzel – 27
Branden Grace – 37
Dylan Frittelli – 89
Brandon Stone – 108
Richard Sterne – 115
Dean Burmester – 134
George Coetzee – 142
Jaco Van Zyl – 167
Thomas Aiken – 207
Photo: Andy Lyons/Getty Images
