Sunday 19 August 2018 20:56, UK
Rory McIlroy will miss the first event of the PGA Tour's FedExCup play-off series, the Northern Trust in New Jersey next week.
McIlroy suggested after last week's PGA Championship that he might not enter the Northern Trust - to be held this year at Ridgewood Country Club - and it has been confirmed he will skip the tournament after his name did not appear on the official list of competitors.
"I need to assess where I'm at, and I think the best thing for me to do right now is take a couple of days off and reflect on what I need to do going forward," said McIlroy after finishing in a tie for 50th place behind Brooks Koepka at Bellerive.
"The best thing might be to take that first FedEx Cup week off and work on my game and hopefully come back in a better place.
"I'll do some practice this week and see if I feel ready to go there and play five out of six weeks leading up to the Ryder Cup."
Rickie Fowler confirmed earlier in the week that he will also miss the Northern Trust as he has a partially torn abdominal muscle and has decided to rest as a precaution.
The top 125 players on the FedEx Cup points list after the Wyndham Championship qualify for the first of the four play-off events.
The only other currently eligible player planning to sit out next week is 96th-ranked American Patrick Rodgers.
The second event of the play-off series is the Dell Technologies Championship at TPC Boston from August 31 to September 3.
