By BOB LENTZ

AP Sports Writer

FLOURTOWN, Pa. (AP) — Things are getting back to normal for Rory McIlroy, and it’s anything but routine for this week’s Truist Championship at the Philadelphia Cricket Club, the sixth of eight signature events on the PGA Tour this season.

McIlroy is playing in an individual tournament for the first time since winning the Masters and becoming the sixth golfer to complete the career grand slam. He teamed with fellow Irishman Shane Lowry at last month’s Zurich Classic and the pair finished 12th. Now, he’s returning to action after a short break.

“I’m excited to get back to being a golfer,” McIlroy said. “It’s nice to get back into the routine again and get back to what I know how to do.”

McIlroy is the defending champion and a fourtime winner of this event. The 36-year-old said celebrating his Masters victory is behind him and he’s looking forward to the next few months.

First, his attention is on the Truist that begins Thursday. A winner of the event in 2010, 2015, 2021 and 2024, McIlroy doesn’t have the luxury of trying to go back-to-back on the same course.

The event was moved to Philly Cricket this year while the tournament’s usual home, Quail Hollow in North Carolina, prepares to host next week’s PGA Championship.

“The last two times I’ve won the Truist Championship, I haven’t been able to defend on the same golf course the next year,” McIlroy said. “We won in ‘21 and then played Potomac, and won last year and then we’re here.

“So it doesn’t quite feel like a defense.”

This week’s field in the no-cut event will be tested by Philly Cricket’s Wissahickon Course for the first time. The layout in the golf-rich Philadelphia suburbs plays just over 7,100 yards and a par 70.

The oldest country club in the U.S., founded in 1854, the layout was designed by club member A.W. Tillinghast and opened in 1922. It underwent restoration just over a decade ago and has hosted a number of notable events, including last year’s USGA Amateur Four-Ball Championship and the 2016 Constellation Senior Players Championship.

The signature event is missing world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who won for the first time in 2025 last week at his hometown Byron Nelson, where he matched the PGA Tour’s 72-hole scoring record.

Third-ranked Xander Schauffele returns to competition for the first time since a tie for 18th place at the RBC Heritage in April and will defend his PGA Championship title next week.

Justin Thomas is coming off a victory at the RBC Heritage and, at No. 5, has his highest ranking since holding the same spot in 2022.

McIlroy and others have described the Wissahickon layout as “old school” and seemed excited to have the event staged at the venerable layout.

The players will face large landing areas, notso- penal rough and tricky greens. Expectations of how the course holds up against today’s pros drew varied responses.

“It’s very similar to a lot of these old school courses that have been renovated over the past few years. A lot of trees have been taken out. The green complexes are, for me, the interesting thing about the golf course,” McIlroy said.

“A little simple off the tee … but making sure with the second shots that you’re below the hole and trying to get to learn the greens a little bit more.”

Thomas is a fan of Philly Cricket and was hopeful that an early forecast of inclement weather on Thursday and Friday doesn’t diminish the course’s defenses against the top-flight field.

“I love these kinds of designs,” he said. “They’re fun. … They’re very specific in terms of what the conditions give us. … It is meant to play firm and fast, especially the greens.”

Schauffele expects a low score to win.

“For some reason, whenever courses seem to be really, really hard, guys seem to shoot low,” he said. “I think this course is kind of the middle of the road in terms of difficulty. I think there’s some hard holes on there and some holes that are really gettable.” CHARITABLE TRUIST The Truist Championship is a one-off stop for the PGA Tour in the Philadelphia area, yet is leaving a lasting mark.

Truist earlier this week announced a $750,000 donation to the Cobbs Creek Foundation in support of the continued revitalization of the late Charlie Sifford’s home course and one of the nations first inclusive golf facilities.

Cobbs Creek opened in 1916 and is one of eight golf courses in the National Black Golf Hall of Fame. The restoration includes a Tiger Woods’ foundation TGR Learning Lab and Jordan Spieth’s foundation contributed $250,000 that funded the construction of a practice putting green.

RETIRED EAGLES GREAT JASON KELCE TAKES HIS SWINGS, ADVICE AT PGA TOUR PRO-AM FLOURTOWN, Pa. (AP) — Jason Kelce flubbed his pitch shot from the thick rough next to a green on the ninth hole — on a round that featured more “Go Birds” chants than birdies — and muttered a common refrain from most weekend golf warriors: “Hey, that’s why I’m an amateur,” Kelce said.

Kelce could have crowd-sourced some golf tips from the scores of fans that followed him hole after humbling hole on Wednesday during a rare PGA Tour stop in the Philadelphia area.

The retired Philadelphia Eagles center has tried in his first year of retirement to up his golf game and lower his score, taking the task of trying to get it in the hole as seriously as he did opening them as he once did on the offensive line. Kelce posted a video of his swing on Reddit this week and asked readers — anyone from pros to casual players — for advice on how to get better.

“Jason Kelce here. Now that I’ve hung up the cleats, I’m trying to get serious about my golf game,” he wrote.

“I’ve uploaded 6 different angles of my swing from a session yesterday. Looking for any tips you can give me — especially on my backswing and follow- through.”

Kelce said the early feedback was “crazy.”

“Some of this stuff is like stuff other pros have put out and it’s kind of generic stuff that everybody can use,” Kelce said. “But there’s been some stuff so far that’s been like, ‘Holy cow, I never thought about it like that.’ So I’m excited about that.”

Kelce — who retired following the 2023 season after a 13-year career spent entirely with the Eagles, played his role as man of the people to perfection during a proam ahead of the Truist Championship. He took time to answer questions from 14-year-old Benji Panzer, a middle school student who had credentials as part of an area sports broadcasting camp. Panzer asked Kelce about his “New Heights” podcast that he tapes with his brother, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.

“The ability of players to connect with fans directly has never been greater,” Kelce told Panzer.

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