Rory McIlroy is lucky enough to have tickets to the Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather fight but he has one problem.
The Match Play Championship quarterfinals happens to be on the same Saturday as the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight. Assuming that Rory plays well enough to reach the quarterfinals, which could go as late as 7:30 PDT according to The New York Daily News, there is a possibility that he could miss some of the fight.
Despite the time crunch, Rory seems fairly confident that he’ll be able to have the best of both worlds. After all, what can’t a couple of birdies solve?
“Nothing that a few quick birdies won’t change if I try and win 7 and 6,” McIlroy said. “If the fight starts at maybe 10 o’clock like they usually do, then it should be OK.”
The fight is scheduled to start around 8:30 PM so maybe Rory knows something that the rest of us don’t. Either that, or he has access to a teleportation device.
Come hell or high water, Rory is not missing the fight.
“I went to Pacquiao in ‘09, and then I think Mayweather fought later on that year, and then they were supposed to fight the next year and it never happened. So (I’ve) been waiting five years for this to happen,” McIlroy said. “I always said if these two guys fought each other, I wouldn’t miss the opportunity to go. Luckily, we’re somewhere close where I can get in line.
“Hopefully, I’m still a part of this tournament at that time, but it just wasn’t an opportunity that I was going to miss.”
From the World Golf Championship in San Francisco to the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas in what could be an hour? Rory better bring his A-Game if he makes the quarterfinals (or bring a spare pair of running shoes to the golf course).