May 12 (Reuters) - Rory McIlroy, eager to enjoy the perks that come with being a top golfer, said on Tuesday he altered his competition schedule leading up to this week's PGA Championship in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania so he could attend a formal state dinner at the White House where U.S. President Donald Trump hosted Britain's King Charles and Queen Camilla.
The six-times major champion was tentatively planning to play the PGA Tour's Signature Event at Trump National Doral in Miami two weeks ago
but decided against it given he was invited to the dinner taking place two days before the tournament began.
"To go down to Doral and then fly up to D.C. for that and then fly back down, it probably just wasn't -- if I wasn't giving my 100% attention to the tournament, then there's no reason to play it, right," McIlroy told reporters at Aronimink Golf Club where the PGA Championship begins on Thursday.
"So I decided to -- I wanted to do the state dinner, and if I was going to do that, it was probably better that I take that week to practice and prepare, come up here and see the golf course, and then go into Quail Hollow feeling more ready to play."
The Northern Irishman, in his only start since the Masters in early April, competed in last week's Signature Event at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, North Carolina where he finished in a share of 19th place, 10 shots behind PGA Tour rookie Kristoffer Reitan of Norway.
Taking time off ahead of a major is nothing new for McIlroy as the Northern Irishman opted for a three-week break from competition before successfully defending his Masters title at Augusta National to become the event's fourth repeat winner.
McIlroy has since appeared in "The Devil Wears Prada 2" with a cameo role alongside his wife.
"I know how fortunate I am and so lucky to be in this position in life, and sometimes you have to enjoy the perks because I know that this isn't going to last forever," said McIlroy.
"There's going to be a day where I'm not sitting up here and I'm not competing for major championships and I'm not doing what I'm doing. So I guess while I'm doing it, I have to enjoy it, as well."
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto, editing by Ed Osmond)
