Rory McIlroy has sent his PGA Tour rivals a warning after he revealed he was getting back into the swing of things toward the end of the recent BMW Championship

Rory McIlroy is targeting a return to the winner’s circle(Image: Getty)

Rory McIlroy has sent his PGA Tour rivals a warning message after he admitted he was beginning to get back into the swing of things toward the end of the BMW Championship.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler emerged victorious at Caves Valley, chasing down Robert MacIntyre to win his fifth PGA victory of 2025, which left the latter wanting to “smash up his golf clubs”. Meanwhile, McIlroy was returning to action in the FedEx Cup Playoffs after opting to snub the St. Jude Championship a week prior, which was won by Justin Rose.

Back in November 2024, the 36-year-old outlined his intentions not to play the first playoff event in Memphis, with McIlroy telling the Telegraph: “I mean, I finished basically dead last there this year [tied for 68 in a 70-man field], and only moved down one spot in the playoff standings.”

The Masters champion was not at his best during the BMW Championship, with McIlroy finishing tied for 12th on -3.

By his own admission, McIlroy had mixed feelings about his performance in Maryland.

However, he believes that toward the end of the tournament, he was finding his groove, something which should be a worry for his PGA Tour rivals heading into the Tour Championship at Atlanta’s East Lake Golf Club, set to begin on August 21.

Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy look past one another at the PGA Championship earlier this year(Image: Andrew Redington, Getty Images)

“The game was awful for the first six holes and then actually felt like I found something, especially on the back nine there,” said McIlroy speaking after his final round.

“So definitely something to build off going into next week.

He continued: “Yeah, it was — this week was my three weeks off. I really didn’t do anything in those three weeks. I was probably expecting too much to get in contention, but there was glimmers of really good stuff in there this week.

“As I said, I felt like I found a bit of a groove over the last nine holes, so certainly something to build off going into the TOUR Championship next week.

Rory McIlroy just drove the green on a par 4 with a 3-wood 🤯

📺 NBC pic.twitter.com/8FgJmXMhbD

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 17, 2025

With three FedEx Cup wins already under his belt – but none since his Masters triumph – McIlroy is seeking to add a fourth when he takes to the course in Atlanta on Thursday.

And the Northern Irishman believes his previous success at East Lake will stand him in good stead.

“I think so, yeah,” said McIlroy when asked if his success in the past will play a factor in his performance in Atlanta.

“It’s obviously a little different than the three times I won there. Last year I felt like the golf course did play quite a bit differently, so a little bit of work on the course over the next few days and hopefully feel a little more comfortable with everything on Thursday afternoon.”