A trio of Irish competitors will tee it up at TPC Sawgrass as The Players Championship kicks off at Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida on Thursday.
Shane Lowry and Seamus Power are gunning for maiden glory in the prestigious tournament widely regarded as the 'fifth major', while Rory McIlroy is hoping to add a second title, having won the event back in 2019 when he edged Jim Furyk by one stroke.
Scottie Scheffler is already a two-time winner of the event and the world number one looks set to be the man to beat, once again, having landed consecutive titles in 2023 and 2024.
The American romped to a five-shot victory two years ago, however, he was pushed hard 12 months ago, just edging out Wyndham Clark, Brian Harman and Xander Schauffele.
Scheffler shot an incredible bogey-free eight under 64 in the final round, which was symptomatic of how he was playing 12 months ago, where he dominated the men's game, virtually unchallenged.
Last year was a remarkable nine-win season for Scheffler, which included his second major at The Masters, a gold medal at the Paris Olympics and a FedEx Cup victory, while also dealing with being arrested en route to his second round at the PGA Championship.
McIlroy will get up close and personal with Scheffler throughout the opening two rounds as the pair will tee it up together, alongside Schauffele in a marquee three-ball – they are among the later starters, off at 5.29pm (Irish time).
McIlroy is back to number two in the world on the Rolex rankings, maintaining his consistent run of form, which he has brought from 2024 into the current calendar year, and backing it up with an impressive win at the recent AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
And yet, it would appear that McIlroy is still not 100% happy with his overall game with one eye on next month's Masters, the elusive major that is currently denying the County Down man the career grand slam.
McIlroy arrived at last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational with new woods in the bag, and remarkably lost strokes off the tee – he is regarded as the best driver of the ball in golf – before jettisoning that plan and reverting to his standard setup.
And perhaps he will take the opportunity to send a message to Scheffler throughout these two opening rounds about his Masters intentions, with the world number one still currently making his way back to his best following an off-the-course injury over Christmas time, when he damaged his hand while cooking.
"It feels good," McIlroy said of his current form. "I'd say even the two finishes post-Pebble have been almost like the worst that they could be. I finished bad on Sunday at Bay Hill. I finished bad on Sunday at Torrey Pines, as well.
"But the one thing I would say is the turnaround in my putting from Torrey to Bay Hill was great. I finished, I think, fifth in putting last week, so to see that turnaround was really encouraging. That's something for me to be really encouraged about going into this week, obviously, and then the next few months.
"You just have to be so on your game here. I think that's the main key. It's such a course on execution, and if you're not executing like 100%, you leave yourself in spots where it's really tough to get up-and-down.
"Mistakes can compound here pretty quickly, so you really just have to be on your game and execute as well as you can. I think more than any other course that we play, that's what it demands. You have to hit the ball where you're looking, and if you can do that, you can do well here."
If McIlroy’s recent form is among the best, one player who is going toe-to-toe with him in that department is Lowry, who took second place at the aforementioned Pebble Beach tournament, while looking on top of his game at the Arnold Palmer aside from on Saturday where he struggled.
Lowry is a bona fide star of the PGA Tour and has jumped a whopping 40 places in the rankings over the past 12 months, currently sitting in 14th place, which, like McIlroy, puts him among the marquee groups this weekend.
The Offaly native will tee it up alongside last week’s winner Russell Henley and Ryder Cup team-mate Viktor Hovland; the trio heading off out the back nine at 12.35pm for their first round.
Lowry’s game is made for this Players Stadium Course, and he will surely be brimming with confidence coming into this week’s play – he also has an iconic 17th hole in one in the bag to add to the inspiration.
Seamus Power makes up the Irish contingent, and while he is very much flying under the radar this week, still ranked outside the world top 100, the Waterford native has enjoyed two top-25 finishes in recent weeks, which should add some confidence ahead of the weekend.
Power also made the cut at last year’s Players, shooting two 69s over the four rounds, however, a six-over 78 in the third round ruled out a much higher finish.
Scheffler is bidding for an unprecedented third successive victory in this elite field, which is one of the strongest in the game, with the top 10 golfers in the world rankings, and 48 of the top 50 (LIV players are not invited), assembled for the tournament's 51st edition.
Only golfing great Jack Nicklaus has triumphed three times in the PGA Tour's flagship event, but Scheffler would become the first player to claim back-to-back-to-back titles should he win on Sunday.
It also would make him the first player since Steve Stricker, at the 2011 John Deere Classic, to win the same PGA Tour event in three consecutive years.
"Last year is last year," said Scheffler. "I'm not trying to replicate it. I'm not trying to look back on it. At the end of the day, it's in the past. It was a great year.
"A lot of great things happened, and I'm very thankful for that. But when it comes to this year, I've never been a guy that sets long-term goals... I have what I would think of as dreams and aspirations, but my goal is to be as prepared as possible when I step up on the first tee and then I want to have a good attitude when I go out and play over each shot. And that's how I view success."
