PEBBLE BEACH >> Rory McIlroy first played golf in his hometown of Holywood, a coastal town near Belfast, Northern Ireland. But his game developed at Royal Portrush where weather extremes reign on the 137-year-old triangle of sand hills.

Success requires building skills as diverse as the climate. The layout, about 60 miles from his hometown, is where McIlroy set the course record of 61 at age 16 after first playing it six years earlier. It’s where he embraced the challenges of links courses and where he watched his father do the same.

Nothing about his quickly advancing expertise involved McIlroy’s future as an entertainer.

The world’s No. 3-ranked player stressed the differences and his preference for the former Tuesday at Pebble Beach Golf Links. But an irony as apparent as the Pacific Ocean also quickly developed.

McIlroy arrived on the Monterey Peninsula the morning after participating for the first time in the inaugural season of Tomorrow’s Golf League (TGL Golf), the tech-infused indoor team concept. It was developed primarily by McIlroy and Tiger Woods when presented with the idea by former Golf Channel executive Mike McCarley. The league has a partnership with the PGA Tour and a goal to develop golf as entertainment and attract a younger viewing audience.

“When we’re growing up dreaming of professional golfers and trying to get the best out of ourselves, the last thing on our mind is being an entertainer,” McIlroy said. “We’re competitive people at the end of the day, we want to play against the best players in the world and we want to try to come out on top.“I think that in itself should be entertaining to people, but I think in this day and age, you know, it’s become a hobby to bash golf and where golf is entertaining and where it not entertaining.”

Still, McIlroy and Woods founded the league, including the high-energy-high-five-emphasized team concept with players wearing live microphones and self-broadcasting.

“Look, we’ve seen like YouTube golf, for example, exploded over the last couple of years,” McIlroy said. “People will say that that’s more entertaining than maybe some of the competitive golf that’s out there. It is more relatable because you’re watching guys that maybe have a similar ability to what the general public has. But, look, it’s a balance.”

While developing its audience (broadcasts on ESPN began Jan. 7), McIlroy was quick to assess its early success. He cited the average age of viewers is more than a decade younger than PGA Tour viewers.

“I think there’s a novelty factor at this point,” McIlroy said. “Yeah, you want to get people to care about the result.

“But I think when the games are tight and when it’s competitive like it was last night, I think hopefully it came through on the TV screen that we cared about the result. I think if we care about the result, then in the end hopefully the viewer will care about it as well.”

Away from his golf ambassadorship, McIlroy is beginning his PGA Tour season this week in the AT&T’s 84th edition and its second season as a Signature Event.

The 80-player field McIlroy believes addresses another recently renewed criticism of golf, slow play. The AT&T is in its second season as a Signature Event. It will have less than half its previous traditional field size and it will be void of celebrities.

“This isn’t a new problem, this has been around forever. Slow play was also around when people seemingly loved golf,” McIlroy said. “I don’t know what the answer is. There’s a lot of different answers, but not every answer is going to make everyone happy.

“I could say smaller fields. Smaller fields would help pace of play, but that takes away playing opportunities from people and that’s going to piss some people off. If you could space the tee times out a little bit more, that would hopefully make things flow a little bit better.”

McIlroy, whose career has included 41 pro titles (26 on the PGA Tour) first played in the AT&T in 2018 and missed the cut. He tied for 66th last year in his second appearance but won the two-round pro-am with businessman Jeff Rhodes.

The team finished with an 8-under 64 at Pebble Beach and a 16-under 127 total, one shot better than three teams.

“I got my name on the wall, just not the portion that I wanted,” said McIlroy, who won twice last year on the European Tour and twice on the PGA Tour.

“Jeff and I had a good time over 36 (holes),” McIlroy said. “He obviously did most of the heavy lifting in those two days. Yeah, it was obviously a bit of a weird week last year with the weather on Sunday and not being able to finish. The forecast looks a bit better this week. It’s shaping up to be a good one.”

A pro since 2007, McIlroy will continue his global career in 2025, neatly dividing his tournaments between the PGA Tour with international events.

The Ryder Cup in New York and a return to Royal Portrush for the British Open are pending season highlights. The former, McIlroy said, is difficult because of the momentum the host country can build early in the 28-match event

“I think every year’s a pivotal year; every year’s important,” said McIlroy. “But think there’s a couple of things this year that make it maybe a little more so for me.”

“Winning an away Ryder Cup is one of the toughest things to do at the moment. Obviously the Europeans have an opportunity to do that, which would be really cool.”

McIlroy missed the cut in 2019, the British Open’s last visit to Royal Portrush.

“Playing a major championship pretty much at home is a big thing,” he said.