McIlroy busy off course, but is at top of his game

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. — Rory McIlroy can be spotted on screen in movies featuring Hollywood's biggest stars.He had speaking lines — pulling off a "Saved by the Bell" joke — in Adam Sandler's "Happy Gilmore 2" and even snagged a bit part for his wife alongside him for a party scene in the recent Anne Hathaway movie "The Devil Wears Prada 2."There's something about sequels that fits McIlroy just fine these days.No red carpet needed.Try green jackets. Two of them, after he joined Tiger Woods, Nick Faldo and Jack Nicklaus as the only repeat winners of the Masters.The 37-year-old McIlroy is living his best life ahead of this weekend's PGA Championship, feeling at ease as he navigates not only the pressures of trying to win another major, but time management that comes with outside opportunities, as well — running the gamut from movie cameos to schmoozing with the Kelce brothers on their podcast to a state dinner during the visit of King Charles III at the White House with President Donald Trump."Sometimes you have to enjoy the perks," McIlroy said, "because I know that isn't going to last forever."McIlroy, winner of the 2012 and 2014 PGA Championships, even found time to squeeze in rounds two weeks ago at Aronimink Golf Club to get a feel for the course before the first round starts Thursday. McIlroy played his only rounds at the suburban Philadelphia course at the 2018 BMW Championship and found the early visits can sometimes give him a bit of an edge headed into otherwise unfamiliar courses for the bulk of the field."I definitely think courses we don't see very often, whether it's here or Shinnecock or Frisco, it certainly has benefited me over the years," McIlroy said. "I remember the first time I did it for a major championship was Congressional in 2011 on the back of a recommendation from Jack Nicklaus. So, it's helped me over the years."The advice from Nicklaus for the early trip to Congressional Country Club was a success — McIlroy won the 2011 U.S. Open by eight strokes.McIlroy is trying to join Ben Hogan (1953), Arnold Palmer (1960), Jack Nicklaus (1972), Tiger Woods (2002) and Jordan Spieth (2015) as the only golfers to win the first two majors of the year in the modern rotation."Coming into this tournament feels a lot different than what it did last year," McIlroy said. "I feel like I've got some nice clear road ahead to try to get some more of these majors."For as much has gone right for McIlroy — and at only 37, he shows no sign of slowing down — he's happy to admit when he gets something wrong.LIV Golf had a seemingly endless supply of Saudi money that suddenly is coming to an end. The Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia bankrolled LIV and seemingly had a deal in place to join commercial forces with the PGA Tour. The Saudis walked away from LIV and McIlroy admitted Tuesday at Aronimink that he never should have advocated for them to invest in the tour.McIlroy, the only European with the career Grand Slam, hasn't found much else to worry about this year.He played last weekend at Quail Hollow (one of his favorite courses), making the Truist Championship his lone tournament since he won at Augusta."I need to take the time after the Masters to reset and decompress and get myself in the right mental space again to get myself up for this tournament and keep going for the U.S. Open and The Open Championship," he said.Scottie Scheffler is the betting favorite to win at Aronimink, followed by McIlroy.After a career full of chasing, chasing, chasing and falling short at Augusta, McIlroy was about swallowed by the enormity last year of actually winning the Masters.The fulfilment of a career Grand Slam left him wondering, what's next?Turned out, the answer was as simple as winning Augusta again.He now has six majors, tied with Nick Faldo, Lee Trevino and Phil Mickelson. The professional bucket list is about full — how about a gold medal at the Los Angeles Olympics? — and the only real challenge is to see how high he can rise among the career major winners.McIlroy's not even close to yelling, "Cut!" on his career. But if there are more film projects out there looking for an actor to play, well, give the Northern Irishman a shout."There's going to be a day where I'm not sitting up here and I'm not competing for major championships and I'm not doing what I'm doing," he said. "I guess while I'm doing it, I have to enjoy it, as well."