Rory McIlroy will play Augusta with Tom Brady during Masters prep

Rory McIlroy plans a social outing next week at Augusta with his father and a few “friends.” One of those friends just happens to be another world No. 1, Tom Brady, according to Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis.

Brady, who won his fourth championship last month as QB of the Patriots, is no stranger to the links, having played the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am a few times. He reportedly plays to about an 8 handicap.

One guy who wishes he could be a part of that foursome is New England native, Keegan Bradley, who has been trying to get a tee time with his NFL idol ever since he won the 2011 PGA championship and received a congratulatory text from Brady.

Playing a round with Brady is just another way that McIlroy seems to be easing into next month’s Masters as the heavy favorite. Because if he is burdened by the weight of expectations heading into the stretch drive before the Masters, he certainly isn’t showing it — even after missing the cut last week at the Honda Classic in his 2015 PGA Tour curtain-raiser.

In fact, the world No. 1 told reporters on Wednesday he would not really start preparing for Augusta until he finished the no-cut WGC-Cadillac Championship on Sunday (weather permitting) and Bay Hill two weeks hence.

“I mean, it’s [the prospect of the Masters in April] always exciting,” said McIlroy, who carded rounds of 3-over 73 and 74 before driving the few miles home from PGA National on Friday. “I don’t really feel any more anticipation this year than I do any other year.”

For sure, he may be the bookmakers’ favorite to win his first green jacket and complete the career grand slam, but McIlroy contended his focus was on Doral after receiving the incentive he needed at the Honda.

“I could have approached it two ways,” the winner of three PGA Tour events and the last two majors in 2014 said about his uncharacteristically woeful outcome nearly a week ago. “I could have got really down on myself and wondered where that had come from, or thought this was the first event after a three-week break and there were things that need to be sharper.

“Sometimes you need a little kick in the backside to make you realize what you need to do,” McIlroy noted. “I was disappointed but I feel like it has given me clarity on what I needed to do on my game going forward.”

Which does not mean the four-time major champion wasn’t just a tad “pissed off” by his performance, as he acknowledged on Friday.

“If I had [a cat], I would have [kicked it],” he said Wednesday about his state of mind immediately after the MC, and then promptly self-corrected.

“No, saying that — that’s animal cruelty,” he said with a laugh. “I don’t do that, that’s bad. I’ll retract that statement.”

Feline-punting and joking aside, McIlroy said he would fix his gaze toward Augusta after making his first career start at the Arnold Palmer Invitational three weeks ahead of the Masters.

Photo via Donald Miralle/Getty Images

“Right now, I guess, I’m just taking it week‑by‑week, and then after Bay Hill, then I’m sure I’ll start to think about [the Masters] a little bit more and every practice session will be, you know, looking ahead and what shots I’ll need,” he said.

The level of detail McIlroy plans to attend to will include asking the superintendent at his home course, The Bear’s Club, to speed up the greens and cut the aprons down to an Augusta-like height. That way, by the time he gets to Augusta for real, he’ll be “comfortable playing all the shots that I really need that week.”

McIlroy has often said he wants to be golf’s “that guy,” and with the future of the actual face of golf, Tiger Woods, still as hazy as the day he announced his indefinite hiatus from competition, McIlroy recognized he would be the center of attention. He welcomed the challenge.

“I’d rather have the questions, because it’s obviously a great position to be in going into Augusta and having it be the only major that I haven’t won,” he said. “There’s always excitement and anticipation and hype that surrounds Augusta every year, and I feel it regardless if I’m going in as the favorite or under the radar or whatever.”

Though the wrap-around tour campaign actually began last year and 14 events will have been completed prior to the Masters, McIlroy noted that casual fans regard April as the start of the golf season.

“Augusta is the kick‑off, really, even though we’ve got some great events leading up to it,” he said. “There’s always hype. There’s always buildup. My name is getting thrown around a little bit more than it used to, but I’m okay with that.”

As for McIlroy’s pre-Masters Augusta excursion, the conditions won’t be tournament-ready, but the occasion will offer him a chance to reacquaint himself with the iconic track.

“It’s always good just to get up there and feel comfortable with the place again,” said McIlroy.

But first things first. Doral, then Bay Hill, then Augusta — and que sera, sera.

“It just so happens that this is the one [major] that I haven’t won yet. It’s not a bad thing,” said McIlroy. “It’s a nice position to be in going into Augusta this year, but if it doesn’t happen this year, I’ve got hopefully a lot of years to try and do it. So I’m not putting too much pressure on myself.”