Marcus Hayes: Rory McIlroy coming to PGA at Aronimink early? And other questions about the two-time Masters champ.

PHILADELPHIA — Rory McIlroy’s dramatic back-to-back Masters triumph has golf’s spotlight fixed firmly on him once again, and the glow may reach the Delaware Valley weeks before the PGA Championship tees off at Aronimink Golf Club on May 14-17.

Fresh off a Sunday charge that saw him overcome a two-shot deficit to slip into a second consecutive green jacket, McIlroy confirmed he is leaning toward the same pre-major routine that carried him to Augusta glory: arrive early, play the course repeatedly, and “simulate a tournament,” just as Jack Nicklaus once preached. That plan could put the Ulsterman on Aronimink’s Saint Davids Road well before the tournament’s official practice days, even though the club has been closed to the public since November and is unlikely to reopen for player visits until the week of the championship.

McIlroy skipped the three PGA Tour events that immediately preceded the Masters, calling them “three tournaments I honestly just don’t like,” and instead commuted on his private jet from Florida to Augusta National three separate times, squeezing in 18 holes and still making it home for dinner. A similar blueprint would almost certainly cost him the May 5-11 Truist Championship in Charlotte, a Signature Event that paid him a $3 million no-show penalty in 2023 before the Tour rescinded its mandatory-appearance rule.

The 36-year-old’s only previous trip to Aronimink came in 2018, when he finished fifth at the BMW Championship, but the layout has seen minimal tinkering since. With a private jet at his disposal and a new policy of “see the course early or see the course late,” McIlroy appears ready to burn more jet fuel for a handful of scouting loops once the gates reopen.

Oddsmakers, however, are not yet convinced. Less than 24 hours after McIlroy’s Masters win, sports books installed Scottie Scheffler as the +350 favorite for the PGA, with McIlroy listed at roughly +700. Scheffler’s runner-up finish at Augusta, coupled with a torrid late-season stretch that has yielded 20 more world-ranking points than McIlroy since August, keeps him atop the betting boards—for now.

Still, McIlroy’s résumé is swelling. His sixth major title completed the career modern grand slam, a feat achieved by only five other players. At 36, he sits tied for 12th on the all-time major list, four victories shy of double-digit majors and just six behind the 11 that would move him past Walter Hagen into sole possession of third place. Jack Nicklaus won five of his 18 majors after turning 36, and Phil Mickelson captured the 2021 PGA at age 50, benchmarks that frame the outer limits of McIlroy’s upside.

The upcoming schedule offers immediate chances to narrow the gap. McIlroy is expected to tee it up at the end-of-April Cadillac Championship, a Signature Event at Trump Doral held two weeks before the PGA. A victory there would likely slice those Vegas odds and amplify the notion that a 2014-style summer surge—when he captured back-to-back majors at the Open Championship and the PGA—is within reach.

Whether the runway to Philadelphia begins in South Florida or across the Atlantic, the message is clear: Rory McIlroy no longer intends to arrive cold at the sport’s biggest stages. If the private jet’s flight log next month includes a string of trips up I-95, Aronimink’s narrow fairways and slick greens will get a head start on the scrutiny that always accompanies a superstar hunting history.