CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Rory McIlroy has two more rounds before he leaves his 20s, a statement of fact more than a state of mind.

For McIlroy, 30 is just a number he prefers to see on one side of a scorecard.

“If you shoot 30 on a nine, you’re doing OK,” he said Wednesday.

In most other lines of work, turning 30 is just getting started, and even with a few specks of gray in his once curly hair, McIlroy still feels like one of the younger players in golf. He played a practice round this week at the Wells Fargo Championship with Sam Saunders, who is only about two years older.

“But he’s got two kids, one at 10 and one at 5,” McIlroy said. “I’m not quite at that stage yet. But this life, it makes you grow up quickly. It’s funny, I still feel like I’m one of the young guys. ... I don’t know what age I really am. I was here when I was 20 and winning at Quail Hollow, but it doesn’t feel like 10 years ago.”

McIlroy, among three of the top 10 players in the world at Quail Hollow, has been around the highest level of golf for nearly half his life.

He played his first European Tour event nearly 14 years ago at the 2005 British Masters and had rounds of 82-81 at Forest of Arden. He turned pro two years later at age 18 and opened with a 69 in the British Masters at The Belfry on his way to a tie for 42nd.

He won for the first time at the Dubai Desert Classic when he was 19.