McIlroy's Tour Championship status uncertain as fatherhood looms

Rory McIlroy is uncertain whether he will play the Tour Championship as the four-time major winner awaits the birth of his first child.

McIlroy lost his spot atop the leaderboard at the BMW Championship – the second FedEx Cup play-off event, the former world number one carding a third-round 73 in tough scoring conditions to drop into a tie for sixth on Saturday.

Two-time FedEx Cup champion McIlroy later revealed he and his wife Erica are set to become parents any day now, and golf might have to take a backseat momentarily.

The Tour Championship – a 30-man field where McIlroy is the defending champion – is scheduled to get underway at East Lake Golf Course on September 4.

"We're about to be parents very soon, so we're obviously super excited," McIlroy said. "Yeah, we've been sharing the news with friends and family, obviously, but I didn't think it was something that I really particularly needed to share out here.

"It's a private matter, but we're really excited and can't wait for her to get here."

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Asked if he could miss the lucrative Tour Championship, McIlroy – currently 12th in the FedEx Cup standings – replied: "Yeah, for sure. Definitely, just depending on what happens.

"I'm going to play in many more TOUR Championships and it's only going to be the birth of your first child once. That trumps anything else."

"I'm just waiting for a phone call," he continued. "I was waiting for a phone call last week and it didn't come, and then Harry has been keeping his phone in his pocket just to make sure, but nothing as of yet."

McIlroy added: "I think from the get-go my mind has been wandering the last few weeks, and now you guys sort of know the reason why. So yeah, it's such a demanding golf course out there, you just have to think over every shot.

"You can't have a lapse of concentration. Yeah, it's definitely narrowed my focus, and I've played a little better this week because of that.

"Not so much the first few weeks, but the last couple of weeks, you're going out to play and maybe not knowing whether you're going to finish the round or not. It's definitely not an excuse. I just haven't played well enough.

"But again, I keep talking about perspective. If you do play bad, I've got some awesome stuff coming up on the horizon, which is really cool, and it makes the bad days a lot easier to handle."