McIlroy wants to win the $10m prize (©GettyImages). World number one Rory McIlroy has his sights set firmly on the $10m (£6m) bonus prize money for winning the FedEx Cup.
This week's BMW Championship represents the penultimate play-off event with the Northern Irishman sitting in second place in the standings, despite coming into the play-offs leading after winning back to back majors at the US Open and the US PGA Championship.
In the running
In 2012 McIlroy won two of the play-off tournaments, including the BMW Championship, but didn't do enough to claim the FedEx Cup and the lucrative prize bonus.
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He had entered the Tour Championship finale in first place only to be pipped by American Brandt Snedeker to miss out on the grand prize.
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This year's BMW Championship has a field of 70 players with only the top 30 in the standings progressing to the final event - the Tour Championship in Atlanta which starts on 11 September. Before this event the FedEx Cup points list is reset meaning that any of the 30 golfers can win.
A win this week at Cherry Hills will not guarantee the victor the FedEx bonus as it will all come down to what happens in Atlanta.
Standout performer
McIlroy has been the standout golfer this season but knows the format of the FedEx cup means that he isn't guaranteed the bonus prize at the end of it. However after not winning it two years ago, the 25-year old is determined that he rounds of his great year with the prize money.
“It’s been such a great year on the golf course that if I wasn’t to go ahead and win the FedEx Cup it would definitely be disappointing,” said McIlroy.
“I really want to cap off this summer as best as I can and I’ve got two more weeks to push through, even though I am feeling a little tired I’m trying to conserve as much energy as possible.
Fuel to the fire
“Not winning a couple of years ago did add a little bit of fuel to the fire and it probably does make me a little bit more determined.”
Hunter Mahan initially overtook McIlroy after he won the first event, The Barclays but was replaced by Chris Kirk after he won last week's Deutsche Bank Championship.
However, the American learnt this week that he hadn't done enough to earn himself a wildcard spot in Tom Watson's Ryder Cup squad.
But the current point leader spoke of the conversation with the American team captain and insists that he will not let that affect him this week.
Ryder Cup disappointment
“He was pretty straight to the point he just said congratulations on great play but we’re going to go in another direction," Kirk said of his conversation with Watson. "He just started to explain his reasoning and I wasn’t rude at all or anything but if you’re not the one getting picked the reasoning doesn’t really matter a whole lot.
“I just told him ‘hey, don’t worry about it, you got to do what you got to do, I just won the biggest tournament in my career, it’s going to take a lot more than this to put me in a bad mood’.”
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