With four tournaments in four consecutive weeks for the FedExCup playoffs, guys have started pulling out of events to get a breather. Graeme McDowell, Sergio Garcia, Paul Casey and Justin Rose have all withdrawn from this week’s Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston for non-injury reasons.
But world No. 1 Rory McIlroy is not one of those players.
After winning three tournaments in a row, he never contended at The Barclays this past week, and he quickly stated in Sunday’s post-round press conference that he aims to get back in the mix in Boston. So if he’s playing this week, might it be the third leg of the playoffs that he’d miss, the BMW Championship at Cherry Hills in Denver?
Nope. He feels fresh. Of course, he’s 25, so why wouldn’t he?
But he also wants to watch some football. The BMW Championship takes place the same week the NFL season kicks off, and Denver boasts a pretty good football team. The Broncos host the Indianapolis Colts at night on Sept. 7. They’ll kick off nine miles north of Cherry Hills, and a couple hours after the awards ceremony is scheduled at the golf course.
“I have no problem playing a lot of golf. I’ll see where I stand next week but I’m 90 percent going to be in Denver for sure,” McIlroy said Sunday, adding, “One of the reasons why I want to go to Denver, as well, is the Broncos play the Colts on Sunday night. So I want to go to that, as well, first game of the season.”
The Broncos have sold out every single home game since 1969, but something tells us McIlroy will be able to find a way in one way or another. He knows Tiger Woods pretty well, and Tiger knows Peyton Manning, and the Broncos QB could get anyone he wants into Mile High Stadium.
And you never know, McIlroy and Manning could meet earlier in the week. Manning lives in Cherry Hills, the poshest of Denver neighborhoods, is an avid golfer, and allowed his acclaimed acting skills to be used for BMW Championship commercials. He probably wants to see what’s going on in his backyard, even if he can’t be there on Sunday.
John Elway, Manning’s boss as the Broncos’ general manager, probably will be spotted at Cherry Hills. He also lives in the neighborhood, is a board member of the country club, also appeared in ads for the tournament, and doesn’t have to prepare to play in a football game.
If McIlroy’s smart, he’d get together with Manning and/or Elway upon arriving in Denver to get some tips. The PGA Tour hasn’t visited Colorado since 2006 and he’s never played in the mile-high thin air before.
“I’ve heard a lot of great things about Cherry Hills,” McIlroy said. “The ball obviously goes a mile there so I’m looking forward to that, like hitting 7‑irons 220.”
If you thought McIlroy – who led The Barclays field in driving distance – could bomb before, he might take it to a whole new level in Denver.
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