Rory McIlroy shares Augusta National gym with Tom Brady and Peyton Manning

Rory McIlroy beat Tom Brady and the Manning brothers into the gym Friday morning at Augusta National but he didn’t stick around to watch the three NFL stars pump iron.

“I got in the gym at about six,” McIlroy said Wednesday ahead of the Arnold Palmer Invitational about his “100 percent fun, 0 percent serious” couple of days at the home of the Masters.

“Brady walked in there at 6:15, and then the Mannings [Eli and Peyton] walked in at 6:30, and it was my time to leave,” McIlroy joked to a room full of chuckling reporters at Bay Hill.

There’s a punchline in there somewhere, what with a four-time major champion and seven Super Bowl winners (Brady 4, Eli 2, Peyton 1) walking into a gym. And then there’s the part about there being a workout room on the premises.

McIlroy, the favorite in three weeks to win his first green jacket and become just the sixth player to complete a career grand slam, was able to laugh about that errant shot on the 10th hole in 2011 that led to a triple-bogey and a complete meltdown. Thursday, he will play Bay Hill for the first time and hope to put two weeks of less-than-stellar golf -- a missed cut at the Honda Classic and a T9 at Doral -- behind him.

In fact, after an unplanned, five-day visit from long-time coach Michael Bannon after his Augusta jaunt, McIlroy was upbeat heading into Arnie’s tourney as well as the Masters.

“Feeling much better about my game now than when I was walking off Doral 10 days ago,” he said about his practice sessions with Bannon.

Though he conceded he had some trepidations about the treacherous putting surfaces at Augusta (Jack Nicklaus told him he’d “be okay” if he aimed for the middle of the greens), last week was about his thoroughly enjoyable outing at Augusta with his father, some friends, and Brady.

McIlroy was impressed that Brady was not content to rest on his recent Super Bowl laurels. Indeed, the New England Patriots’ QB and his NFL rivals were up early, the 30-somethings serving as accidental motivators for golf’s No. 1.

“I was just surprised [Brady] was in there. It’s their offseason, and the Mannings walked in,” said McIlroy, who recounted that he and Peyton hit the gym the day before as well.

“For me it was to see all those guys in the gym before their season starts and they’re so dedicated and committed to what they do, especially those two guys, Peyton and Tom. They’re both in their late 30s and they want to prolong their career as much as they can,” McIlroy marveled. “So to see them putting so much into it, even after 15 successful years as a career and they still keep going. It was great for me to see. It was inspirational in some ways.”

McIlroy, 25, reminded everyone that he had a way to go before he would need a walker to maneuver his way around a weight room. Even so …

“I’m a long way off from that,” he said. “I’ve still got another 13 or 14 years to get to that point, but just great to see the dedication that they have and how seriously they take their career.”

When the three signal callers began chatting about free agency (we’d love to know Brady’s opinion about losing All-Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis to the Jets), that was McIlroy’s cue to depart.

“We talked a little bit,” he said. “The guys got into some football talk. Obviously the trades were happening and what is this player doing, what is that player, where is he going, where is he going, all that sort of stuff.”

As for the golf, McIlroy said he shot “in the 60s,” but that he and his dad lost a 27-hole match, 1-up, to Seminole GC president Jimmy Dunne and his son.

McIlroy’s father also learned first hand about the challenges his progeny faces every season about this time.

“Now he appreciates what I go through one week a year,” said McIlroy the Younger. “Whenever I come off the course and he says, ‘Why did you do that on 6’ or, ‘Why did you go there on 14?’ [and I say], ‘It’s not that easy.’ Now he appreciates just what it’s like.”