Defending champion McIlroy aims to emulate ‘25 feat at Pebble Beach

A visit to Pebble Beach last year helped set up Rory McIlroy for one of the biggest moments of his golf career.

McIlroy earned a two-shot victory at the 2025 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, kickstarting a stellar run that saw him win the Players Championship before completing the career Grand Slam by capturing the Green Jacket at the Masters.

The 36-year-old Northern Ireland native is back on the Monterey Peninsula this week to defend his Pebble Beach championship.

“Obviously last year was a great way to start the 2025 season,” McIlroy said. “Historically I haven’t played Pebble Beach that well. I’ve played OK, but nothing spectacular.

“I think winning on a golf course that I hadn’t won on before, hadn’t really contended on before, I feel like it gave me a lot of confidence going into the rest of the season.”

He added of his triumphant performance at Pebble Beach Golf Links that he was pleased with “how in control I was with my ball flight, especially in tough conditions last year on the Saturday. There was a lot of things that I worked on in the offseason that I brought with me into here. Yeah, it was a massive confidence boost and obviously then went on to play well in that early part of the season, won at The Players and then obviously into the Masters.

“Yeah, it was a perfect way to start the year here last year. Hoping for something similar this.”

An aggressive approach and clutch work on the greens were key to prevailing at Pebble Beach, McIlroy believes.

“I hit driver a lot, giving myself short irons in,” he said of his 2025 strategy. “I think last year as well, it was probably the best putting performance I’ve ever had on poa greens. I usually come to the West Coast and I struggle a little bit on the poa, and last year I didn’t. I holed a lot of putts and that was a big difference.”

McIlroy finished last season and started this season well, too. After the PGA Tour playoffs concluded, he captured the Irish Open, tied for third in Abu Dhabi, UAE, and finished second at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, UAE.

After tying for 14th at the Australian Open to end 2025, he tied for third and tied for 33rd in two Middle Eastern events to kick off 2026.

“Game feels in good shape,” McIlroy said. “I had two weeks in Dubai to sort of shake the rust off. Played OK, wasn’t anything spectacular. But I’ve had two nice weeks at home and done some practice. ... I feel pretty good coming in here.”

Reuters