Rory McIlroy has become increasingly choosy about which tournaments he enters these days, but the forthcoming Pebble Beach Pro-Am is one competition he has no intention of missing. The reigning Masters champion has deliberately cut back on his tournament appearances and has already turned down opportunities to compete for substantial prize money this season.

Nevertheless, he'll be teeing off at Pebble Beach to vie for a slice of $20million (£14.67m). The Northern Irishman enters this year's competition as defending champion, having edged out Shane Lowry to come out on top in 2025.

McIlroy is one of just two Europeans to claim victory in the tournament's history, alongside 2023 winner Justin Rose. He pocketed a massive $3.6m (equivalent to £2.63m today) for last year's triumph, representing one of the biggest paydays of his career, with an identical sum awaiting this year's victor and at least three players set for million-dollar scores.

Back in January, McIlroy declined the opportunity to chase a share of some appetising purses when he skipped both the Farmers Insurance Open and the Bahrain Championship. Rose emerged victorious in the former, finishing seven shots ahead of the field to claim a $1.73m prize, whilst Freddy Schott prevailed in a play-off in Bahrain to secure $467,500.

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Rose will line up alongside McIlroy in the Pebble Beach field, as will several other previous champions. Wyndham Clark has the opportunity to reclaim the crown he secured in 2024 and 2022 winner Tom Hoge is also among the contenders.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is among the high-profile names hoping to clinch the tournament for the first time. Scheffler has already tasted victory this year, winning The American Express in January, and has two top-10 finishes from previous Pebble Beach appearances.

In 2024, McIlroy pledged to play fewer tournaments - something he appears to be following through on this year. "It's been a long season, and I'm going to just have to think about trying to build in a few extra breaks here and there next year and going forward because I felt like I hit a bit of a wall sort of post-US Open, and still feel a little bit of that hangover," he said following that year's Tour Championship in Atlanta.

"27 [tournaments is too many]. I'm usually sort of like a 22 sort of person. But again, that was when I was sort of in my 20s and didn't have the responsibilities that I do now.I'm going to try to cut it back to like 18 or 20 a year going forward, I think."

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