As he suggested he would do following the PGA Championship, Rory McIlroy is skipping the Northern Trust, the first FedEx Cup playoff event, to be played at Ridgewood Country Club in New Jersey next week.
McIlroy, whose victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March is his only win over the past two seasons, expressed frustration after he tied for 50th at the PGA Championship last week.
"I need to assess where I'm at," McIlroy said Sunday after the PGA Championship. "I think the best thing for me to do right now is just sort of take a couple of days off, reflect on what I need to do going forward.
"The best thing might be to take that first FedEx Cup week off and work on my game and come back, hopefully, in a better place for Boston [Dell Technologies Championship]."
McIlroy is ranked 21st in the FedEx Cup standings and assured of playing in the Dell Technologies Championship and the BMW Championship. He won the overall FedEx Cup title two years ago, when he also won the Tour Championship.
"Historically, the first FedEx playoff event hasn't been my best event of the four," McIlroy said Sunday. "I've played well in Boston. I've played well in the other two. So we'll see."
McIlroy is ranked seventh in the world but has gone four years without a major championship victory.