Rory McIlroy makes his first PGA Tour start of the year at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, where the in-form Ulsterman has a chance to can reclaim the World No.1 position.
The 34-year-old enters the signature event off the back two DP World Tour outings so far in 2024, where he finished T2 at the Dubai Invitational before defending his title at the Dubai Desert Classic.
That means he should have plenty of confidence going into this week's event in California as he looks for his 25th PGA Tour win. If he achieves it, he'll be in line for a $3.6m windfall from the $20m prize money payout, but another incentive will be the chance to return to the top of the world rankings after relinquishing the position almost a year ago.
Popular X world rankings expert Nosferatu has confirmed that McIlroy is the one player who can overtake Scottie Scheffler at the top of the world rankings this week in what would mark the four-time Major winner's 10th spell at the summit.
🚨 #OWGR No.1 watch (we're back!)@McIlroyRory will have a chance to regain the world No.1 spot next week at Pebble Beach!! He is the only player that will have that chance. Detailed scenarios later... @attproamJanuary 28, 2024
That would be in no small part thanks to two major changes announced by the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) in December, including offering more points to the top finishers in events with a field of 80 or less. That applies to this week's event, which has many of the best players in the world in its field of 80. As a result it will offer around 73.3 points to the winner.
Depending on who claims the trophy, there could be even more points awarded. That is thanks to the other change the OWGR announced at the same time, which is to reward multiple winners over a 52-week period with more points, with up to four extra on offer to those players.
For example, one player who could scoop all four is Scheffler, who has three wins within the last 52 weeks, while McIlroy isn't far behind with two. That means a potential 77.3 points are up for grabs, making it a record for the points on offer at a tournament beyond the four Majors, which offer 100, and The Players Championship, which has 80.
The number is also a substantial leap from last year's higher-profile PGA tournaments, which typically offered between 60 and 70 points to the winner. This week's figure is also in stark contrast to the DP World Tour's inaugural Bahrain Championship, which will offer just 17.7 points to the winner.
If McIlroy is to take advantage of the potentially huge haul of world ranking points, he will need to perform better than in his only previous appearance at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, where he missed the cut in 2018.
Whatever happens, the tournament marks the latest in a busy schedule for McIlroy as he attempts to get his game into the best possible shape ahead of April’s Masters - the one Major he has yet to win.
Last week, it was announced he would compete at the Valero Texas Open the week before the tournament at Augusta National, while he also committed to an appearance at the Cognizant Classic (formerly the Honda Classic), which he won in 2012.
