Rory McIlroy has become more selective with his tournament schedule of late but the upcoming Pebble Beach Pro-Am is one event he doesn’t plan to skip.The reigning Masters champion has made a point of playing fewer tournaments and has already passed up on the chance to compete for huge purses this season. However, he’ll be back out on the course at Pebble Beach to compete for a share of $20million (£14.67m).

The Northern Irishman goes into this year’s event as the defending champion, having beaten Shane Lowry by two strokes to win in 2025. He is one of only two Europeans to taste victory in the tournament’s history, with 2023 champ Justin Rose the other. McIlroy scooped a huge $3.6m for the 2025 victory, one of the biggest paydays of his career. The same amount will go to this year’s winner, with each of the top three finishers due to seal seven-figure scores.

In January, McIlroy passed up on the chance to earn a share of some other substantial purses when he sat out  the Farmers Insurance Open and the Bahrain Championship. It was Rose who came out on top in the former, finishing seven strokes clear of the field to land a $1.73m payday, while Freddy Schott prevailed in a play-off in Bahrain to scoop $467,500.

Rose will join McIlroy in the Pebble Beach field, as will a number of other former winners. Wyndham Clark is in with a chance to reclaim the title he won in 2024, while 2022 champ Tom Hoge is also in the mix.

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World No.1 Scottie Scheffler is among the big names looking to win the tournament for the first time. Scheffler already has a win under his belt this year, winning The American Express in January on the same weekend that McIlroy took part in the Dubai Desert Classic.

McIlroy’s involvement comes despite a 2024 pledge to play fewer tournaments. “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 after 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.”