Rory McIlroy faces big fight dash

The most pressure Rory McIlroy faces all week could be the quarter-finals of the Match Play Championship in San Francisco.

The quarter-final matches — if the world’s No. 1 player advances that far — are expected to end as late as 7.30pm local Pacific Daylight Time on Saturday night.

That would be an hour before Manny Pacquiao fights Floyd Mayweather Jr. in Las Vegas.

McIlroy already has tickets to the fight. So what happens if McIlroy is still playing?

“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.”

Except the fight is supposed to start somewhere between 8pm. and 8.30pm in Las Vegas.

McIlroy, however, was certain he didn’t want to miss it.

“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.”

The flight to Las Vegas is short and he would be flying private. The hard part might be getting out of Harding Park, which is on the south side of San Francisco and about a 20-minute drive to the airport.

Masters champion Jordan Spieth was a little more coy on his fight plans. “If things don’t go perfectly this week, I may see him at the fight. Who knows?’ Spieth said. ‘I don’t plan on being there. But I may be there.”