In terms of scheduling, Rory McIlroy’s relationship with the AT&T Pebble Beach pro-am tournament has been hit and miss. More miss, if anything. Yet its elevation to a $20 million signature event – limited to just 80 players, with no cut – has ensured the Northern Irishman’s involvement where he is aiming to kick-start a “pivotal” year.
The world number three has already featured in Dubai on the DP World Tour so far this year but, apart from his TGL simulator golf league involvement, Pebble Beach – where world number one Scottie Scheffler also begins his PGA Tour season having recovered from a freakish finger injury on Christmas Day – offers McIlroy the chance to make an early impact.
McIlroy worked on tweaking his swing over the winter months but hasn’t done any further changes since his tied-fourth finish in defence of his Hero Dubai Desert Classic: “I have a big shoulder turn so the club will probably always point right of the target for me. I just feel like over the past year it got a little bit too pronounced, so just trying to tease it back into position where it’s a little more in line at the top.
“I feel like the three weeks I spent working on the technique was as much as I needed. I think sometimes if I get too technical in my thought around the golf swing, then again, I talk about connection to the target and I feel like when I do that and I’m out there, sometimes I can lose that connection.
“I have a feel of what I want to do in my swing. As long as I keep that feel and I do some of the drills that I’m doing on the range, that seems like enough to keep it in the groove that I want it,” said McIlroy, who has only made infrequent appearances in the pro-am tournament which involves playing Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill. He is again partnered with American financial investor Jeff Rhodes in defence of their team title in the pro-am.
McIlroy missed the cut in 2018 and finished tied-66th last year, with the winter-spring poa annua greens providing much of the frustration.
The Pebble Beach pro-am will get McIlroy’s season up and running stateside and he is also scheduled to play in the Genesis Invitational (another PGA Tour signature tournament in a fortnight’s time, which has been moved to Torrey Pines from Riviera following the recent Los Angeles wildfires).
McIlroy has committed to a reduced playing schedule – having played 27 times last season, juggling the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour – for the year ahead, with three prime targets: firstly, the Masters in April; the 153rd Open Championship at Royal Portrush; and the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black in New York in September.
“I think every year’s a pivotal year. Every year’s important. I think there’s a couple of things this year that make it maybe a little more so for me. The Open goes back to Portrush, so playing a major championship pretty much at home is a big thing. Then playing an away Ryder Cup for me, I’ve alluded to this a lot, but I feel like winning an away Ryder Cup is one of the toughest things to do in golf at the minute. Obviously the Europeans have an opportunity to do that, which would being really cool,” McIlroy said outlining his season’s targets.
Shane Lowry slipped away for a round at Cypress Point – where he reportedly had nine birdies in a 64 – as part of his preparations earlier this week. Lowry missed the cut at the wind-affected Farmers Insurance Open last week and will aim to bounce back with the comfort of no cut, while Séamus Power – who suffered a back injury in missing the cut at the Sony Open earlier this month – returns to tournament play.
Pebble Beach pro-am
Purse: €19.25 million (€3.45m to the winner)
Where: Monterey, California, USA
The courses: With its designation as one of the PGA Tour’s big-money signature tournaments, the pro-am this year features three rather than two courses (with Monterey Peninsula dropped): Pebble Beach Links (Par 72 6,972 yards) and Spyglass Hill (Par 72 7,041 yards) provide the challenge for the first two days (which includes amateurs) before the iconic Pebble Beach links – which features a new sixth green and will showcase 50 new trees – determines the winner come Sunday.
The field: Scottie Scheffler, the world number one, makes his first appearance of the season having recovered from a hand injury suffered when making ravioli using a wine glass to roll the pasta dough. Scheffler required minor surgery to remove shards of glass. Past champion Jordan Spieth is playing on a sponsor’s invite in the limited 80-man field (no cut). Rory McIlroy is making his first start of the season on the PGA Tour, one of nine players from the world’s top-10 competing.
Quote-Unquote: “Just because I missed two (tournametns), I don’t want to change the flow and cadence to my schedule. If I feel like I want to add one to get some extra reps in, then I will” – Scottie Scheffler on going with the flow headed into Pebble Beach and reluctant to alter his schedule in the build-up to the Players and the Masters. Scheffler missed two planned outings at the Sentry and the American Express but has left open the option of adding one if needed.
Irish in the field: Rory McIlroy is paired with Ludvig Aberg for the first round (Spyglass Hill, 4.48pm Irish time); Séamus Power, who has recovered from a back injury, is alongside Mackenzie Hughes (Pebble Beach, 5.27pm Irish time); Shane Lowry missed the cut at Torrey Pines and is paired with Aaron Rai (Pebble Beach, 6.06pm Irish time).
Betting: Forget about his injury – Scottie Scheffler’s stellar performances through 2024, in which he won nine times, has the world number one installed as a hot 4/1 favourite with McIlroy, who has struggled with the greens at Pebble in past appearances, next in the market at 12/1 alongside Collin Morikawa. Defending champion Wyndham Clark (who won the weather-curtailed event last year) is worth a look each-way at 55s, while Irish Open champion Rasmus Hojgaard is a 60/1 prospect.
On TV: Live on Sky Sports Golf (live coverage, 4.45pm).
Bahrain Championship
Purse: €2.45 million (€406,000 to the winner)
Where: Kingdom of Bahrain
The course: Royal Golf Club – 7,302 yards Par 72 – is designed by Colin Montgomerie working with European Golf Design. The Scot sought to bring elements of links golf into the layout, although there are a number of water hazards factored in to the sandy terrain.
The field: The Bapco Energies Bahrain Championship is the second edition of the tournament after the DP World Tour returned to the kingdom last year following a 13 year break. This is the fourth straight event on the circuit in the Middle East (following on from three in the UAE). South African Dylan Frittelli is the defending champion while last week’s Ras Al Khaimah Championship winner Alejandro Del Rey is looking to go back-to-back. Major champions in the field include Pádraig Harrington, Patrick Reed and Jimmy Walker.
Irish in the field: Pádraig Harrington (off the first, 8.30am Irish time); Conor Purcell (off the 10th, 8.20am Irish time).
Betting: Patrick Reed – who is building up to another season on LIV – is the 12/1 favourite ahead of Thorbjorn Olesen (14/1) in the market. The in-form David Puig, third behind del Rey in RAK, is rated a 16/1 chance. Better value, though, can be found in the each-way market with del Rey rated a 50/1 chance and David Ravetto at 100/1.
On TV: On Sky Sports Golf (from 8.30am).
HGV Tournament of Champions
Purse: €2 million (€350,000 to the winner)
Where: Orlando, Florida
The course: Lake Nona Golf Club – 6,617 yards Par 72 – is a challenging course designed by Tom Fazio. The front nine is tree-lined while the back nine is more open with a great variety of holes and requiring accurate approach play but it will be very familiar to many of the LPGA Tour players (including Leona Maguire) competing in the limited-field opener to the season.
The field: Just 32 players in the field – it is limited to tournament winners from the previous two seasons – headed by world number one Nelly Korda and defending champion Lydia Ko. This is the opening event of the LPGA Tour season which is followed by another Florida stop for next week’s Founders Cup before a short break ahead of the early-season Asian swing.
Quote-Unquote: “Last year is last year. When it comes to defending titles, I mean, the field is different. There is different girls in the field. Weather is different. Golf course could be different. There are so many variabilities that just completely changes it. I try not to take that approach of I’m defending and just take the approach of this is a new week, new opportunity, and I’m prepared. I’m going to prepare my hardest and go into the week with a positive attitude” – Nelly Korda, who won seven times on the LPGA Tour last year, on starting out with a fresh canvas.
Irish in the field: Leona Maguire is paired with Amy Yang (3.44pm Irish time).
Betting: No surprise to find Nelly Korda topping the market at 7/2 on the back of a standout 2024 season with defending champion Lydia Ko at 6/1. Aussies Hannah Green (20/1) and Minjee Lee (22/1) are making their debuts in the tournament and look decent value. Leona Maguire is an each-way look at 60s.
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