Will Rory McIlroy make it to the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight?

The struggle is real for Rory McIlroy.

The Ulsterman advanced through group play into the knockout stage of the WGC-Cadillac Match Play Championship, coming back from 2 down with two holes to play on Friday to beat Billy Horschel in sudden-death extra holes. Next up is Hideki Matsuyama in the Round of 16. If McIlroy wins that match, then he has a conflict of interest on his hands.

Certainly he’ll want to compete in the quarterfinal round at TPC Harding Park. However, he also has tickets to the Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather fight in Vegas, which starts around 8:30 p.m. PT. He’d be cutting it close to make it to ringside on time.

McIlroy, who would tee off in the quarterfinals between 2:50 and 3:35 p.m., has a plan.

“Get to the afternoon and try and win that match. Bring a change of clothes here, try and avoid [the media], go straight to the airport,” he said.

However, if his plan doesn’t work out and he clearly can’t make the fight, then McIlroy will play scalper and make some nice money.

He said, “I’ll probably try and sell my tickets and watch it on a big screen here somewhere.”

Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.

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