McIlroy has FedExCup target

US Tour

Rory McIlroy heads into this weekend’s Deutsche Bank Championship confident that he still has a chance of claiming FedExCup play-off honours.

The world number four is currently in 36th place on the points table, but with a large number points available for winning in the play-off stages and then a re-set ahead of the final event, positions at the top of the leaderboard can still change dramatically.

Any player that is in the top five when the season-ending Tour Championship takes place from September 19-22 goes into the event with the knowledge that a victory in Atlanta will hand them the FedExCup and the tournament purse of $10million.

Although the Ulsterman knows that he will need a marked improvement in his results in the final weeks of the season after enduring a torrid time in 2013 so far, he hasn’t thrown in the towel yet.

“What I’m trying to get out of this week is just trying to move up in the FedExCup,” he told reporters on Thursday.

“Going into the little week break that we have next week, playing myself into a nice position, then I can go into Chicago and play well and maybe get myself into the top five in the standings … so I actually have a chance to still win the thing going into Atlanta.

“I know I’ll need to produce a couple of really good finishes to do that, but I feel like I’m playing well enough to do that.

“I’ve played pretty well at times this year. Five top 10s (on the PGA Tour), and I feel like my game is definitely running into a little bit of form.

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong.”

“I guess I’m a victim of my own success at times. But I know how well I can play … and I want to get back to that level,” added the double major winner.

“All I want to do is just keep trying to improve my position. I’d love to make a big jump this week, and obviously jump into the sort of competitive places going into the Tour Championship.”

US Tour

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