Rory understands the importance of keeping both feet on the ground well

The boy, halfway through a draining, three-year chemotherapy regimen at St. Jude's in Memphis, stole the show, not to mention a few hearts. Because Dawson has been so ill and unable to attend school, he could not read his lines on the teleprompter, McIlroy said.

White, 25, actually requested that the genial McIlroy, who is also associated with UNICEF, be asked to participate in filming the spot, picking the world No. 2 over musicians, actors and other celebrities. Turns out that McIlroy, who will turn 23 on Friday, perhaps got more out of the experience than anybody involved.

"He was unbelievable," McIlroy said of their 7-year-old co-star. "To see someone go through what he's going through discount golf clubs and to have all this positivity coming out of him, it just makes you realize how lucky and how fortunate we are."

This week marks the second time that McIlroy has played since Doral, a span of eight weeks, and his first start since finishing a disappointing T40 at the Masters. He hardly spent the remainder of April sweating over his poor weekend at Augusta National, where he was in third place after 36 holes.

He left his clubs in the States during a two-week vacation in Europe, where he actually hobnobbed with the Queen of England at a thoroughbred racing event during a two-week stretch in Europe and spent time with his girlfriend, tennis star Caroline Wozniacki.

To put that in perspective, his two PGA Tour wins equal the combined total of longtime U.S. tour members Ian Poulter and Paul Casey. Decorated veteran and former No. 1 Lee Westwood, 39, also has two, so McIlroy is way ahead of the developmental curve in that regard.

He figures to scale that figure back to perhaps 23 starts between the Euro and PGA tours this year, an exercise in self-preservation as much as anything. Plus, he doesn't want to become a one-dimensional bore. He wouldn't be much fun around people when everybody's hoisting pints.

Along with Olympics snowboarding Mizuno Mp-63 irons legend Shaun White, McIlroy shot a promotional spot for the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, along with a stricken 7-year-old named Dawson, who was over the moon at being placed in such proximity to a pair of high-profile sports figures.

"I'm trying to find the perfect balance between golf and having a normal life and everything else," he said. "For me, there's more to life than just golf. I don't know if people are surprised to hear that, but I have a lot more going on in my life than just golf."

"Basically, the most important time for me in the golf season is from the start of April until the end of August," he said. "That's when all the big tournaments are and that's when you want to play your best golf. All the stuff either side of that is more preparation work and making sure that your game is getting ready and your body is physically ready for that time of the year.

Along with Olympics snowboarding legend Shaun White, McIlroy shot a promotional spot for the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, along with a stricken 7-year-old named Dawson, who was over the moon at being placed in such proximity to a pair of high-profile sports figures.

Hard to believe how fast two years have flown past since McIlroy won his first PGA Tour event at Quail Hollow with a stellar 62 in the final round, the best Sunday of his professional career Mizuno MP 53 Irons in terms of spotless execution. It also proved, at a point wherein the training wheels were still on the bicycle to a degree, that he could play anywhere, with anybody, and win.

The stretch includes a title defense at the U.S. Open, a victory that elevated him to uber-super-mega status last year as the sport looked for a worthy successor to the No. 1 position. The heavy lifting begins now -- McIlroy is playing in five of the next seven weeks, including the Players Championship next week, an event he skipped last year when he wasn't a U.S. tour member.

"You know, a lot of European players come over here and struggle to win, so to come over here and get a win early was nice," he said. "So, yeah, it gave me the confidence to know if I came over here a little bit more that I did have good chances of winning tournaments here."