McIlroy feeling positive as he takes on Riviera for ninth time

Rory McIlroy speaks to reporters after the Genesis Invitational Pro-Am

Rory McIlroy feels good about his chances of breaking his duck in Tiger Woods’ Genesis Invitational if he can avoid the big numbers that dashed his title defence at Pebble Beach.

The world number two makes his ninth appearance at Riviera Country Club and like the tournament host, he’s still winless in an event that’s celebrating its 100th staging this week.

“I learned quite a bit about my game last week,” said McIlroy, who made two eagles and 25 birdies in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

“Obviously, I made some big numbers, which kept me from being right in contention on Sunday. But I feel like there's enough good in there to be encouraged going into this week.”

While he finished joint 14th after running up three double bogeys and one triple bogey over the first three days at Pebble Beach, he takes a lot of positives from the 27 great holes he played.

“There were a lot more opportunities to make big numbers last week than there are this week,” McIlroy said. “There are no hazards, there is no water. It presents a different challenge in itself, this golf course.

“But I think the fact that I'm hitting a lot of good shots and hitting it close and converting a lot of putts, that has to give me confidence not just this week, but going forward.”

The Masters champion, who heads to Augusta National next week to play with Chairman Fred Ridley, faces tough competition in Los Angeles, where world number one Scottie Scheffler is also looking for a maiden win and the in-form Shane Lowry arrives on the back of a tie for eighth at Pebble Beach.

He’s no fan of the changes to the par-three fourth, which now measures 270 yards from a new tee and angle as the venue prepares to his the 2026 U.S. Women’s Open, the 2028 Olympics and the 2031 U.S. Open.

“I actually think it’s a horrible change,” he said. |Fifteen percent of the field hit the green last time when it was played at its original yardage...if you want it to be a 275-yard par-3, you have to change the apron leading up onto the green.

“It can’t be kikuyu, it has to be another type of grass that can help you run it onto the green because again, in the right conditions, you try to fly that ball on the green with a 3-iron, it’s going to land -- it’s going to finish up on the fifth tee box. That’s sort of what I mean by why it’s not a great change.”

Leona Maguire, meanwhile, gets her 2026 season underway in the Honda LPGA Thailand at Siam Country Club, where KPMG Women’s Irish Open champion Lottie Woad is one of the title favourites.

On the DP World Tour, Jacques Kruyswijk will be aiming to keep the trophy on African soil this week when he defends his title at the Magical Kenya Open where Mark Power plays on an invitatiion

On the HotelPlanner Tour, Max Kennedy is hoping to build on his runner-up finish in last week’s NTT Data Pro-Am when he joins Gary Hurley, Liam Grehan, Liam Nolan and Conor Purcell in the Jonsson Workwear Durban Open.