Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy paired together to begin 2026 playoffs at St. Jude Championship

The PGA Tour couldn’t have asked for a much better pairing to begin the 2026 FedEx Cup Playoffs.

Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, the two biggest stars in golf, will play alongside one another to begin the FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee.

It’s a pairing golf fans haven’t seen this season. Scheffler and McIlroy haven’t been grouped together in a PGA Tour event since the 2025 Tour Championship. Now they’ll share the course again with the stakes high as the postseason begins. And this might not be the last time we see them together over the next few weeks.

Scheffler enters the playoffs ranked No. 1 in the FedEx Cup standings, while McIlroy sits 12th. If both remain near the top of the leaderboard throughout the postseason, additional pairings could be coming.

Interestingly, neither has dominated the winner’s circle in 2026. Scheffler and McIlroy each enter Memphis with only one victory this season, although their schedules have looked dramatically different. McIlroy has made only 11 starts, choosing to focus much of his attention on golf’s biggest events.

However, the world No. 1 has appeared in 17 events and made 16 cuts. Even more impressive, Scheffler has finished inside the top 25 in every tournament where he made the weekend. That’s the type of consistency that explains why he’s sitting atop the FedEx Cup standings even without piling up victories.

The stakes a differnet this year heading into the Tour Championship. There is no advantage for being the higher-ranked player heading into the final tournament. Any one of these golfers has a chance if they have a good week. A win this weekend for anyone would see them move on to the BMW Championship next week.

Let’s get ready for a great weekend of golf!

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