Golf news: Rory joins Tiger and Phil in elite club, why Mickelson won't play LIV Golf opener, WM Phoenix Open odds

Coming into the PGA Tour's second Signature Event of the 2025 season, Rory McIlroy had only appeared in four events at Pebble Beach Golf Links, twice playing the Pebble Beach Pro-Am and twice playing the U.S. Open.

And in those four starts, the Northern Irishman didn't fare overly well — at least not as a whole.

Yes, he finished tied for ninth at the 2019 U.S. Open, but he also finished eight shots back of Gary Woodland. In his other appearance at Pebble for America's national championship in 2010, McIlroy missed the cut, shooting 75-77 over the first two days.

Rory also missed the 54-hole cut in his first appearance at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am in 2018, shooting 68-74-72. With the PGA Tour making the tourney a Signature Event a season ago, there was no chance of McIlroy missing the cut, but he still only tied for 66th in the 80-man field, shooting 71-74-69 over 54 holes to finish at 2-under in the weather-shortened event, finishing 15 shots back of winner Wyndham Clark.

So, again, Pebble Beach hasn't been one of Rory's favorite venues. But that all changed this past week, as the world's third-ranked player dominated the season's strongest field thus far, shooting 21-under to take a two-stroke victory over friend and Ryder Cup teammate Shane Lowry.

After opening with a 6-under 66 on Thursday at Spyglass Hill, a round that included the second hole-in-one of his PGA Tour career, McIlroy cooled off a touch on Friday at Pebble with a 2-under 70, which put him at 8-under for the week, six shots back of 36-hole leader Sepp Straka.

Rory came roaring back up the leaderboard on Saturday, firing a 7-under round of 65 to get himself within one of Straka heading into the final round. And on Sunday, McIlroy didn't let up, making five birdies and an eagle against just one bogey en route to a 6-under 66.

McIlroy pocketed a cool $3.6 million with the win, upping his career on-course PGA Tour earnings to $94,589,349. Only Tiger Woods ($120,999,166) and Phil Mickelson ($96,691,026) have made more. He also joined Tiger and Phil in an elite club with his victory, which is where we'll kick things off as we look at some more news and notes in the golf world.

Rory McIlroy joined Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson in an elite club with his win at Pebble Beach

The victory at Pebble Beach was the 27th on the PGA Tour for McIlroy, breaking him out of a tie with Henry Picard for the 22nd most in history.

Rory is the first player to reach the 27-win mark since Mickelson did so in 2005, and McIlroy is also only the third player in the last three decades with 27 PGA Tour wins and four major championship victories, joining Mickelson and Tiger.

"Getting to that number is really cool," McIlroy said afterward. "I think for me it's even more meaningful that I don't really play a full schedule on the PGA Tour either. I spend my time between here and the DP World Tour. I think I'm up over 40 or 40 worldwide wins, which is a pretty cool number. Yeah, absolutely, 27 is a cool number on the PGA Tour. Hopefully, I keep adding to that and break a 30 barrier at some point this year and keep going from there."

Mickelson will sit out the LIV Golf season opener with a shoulder injury

Mickelson, of course, doesn't have many chances to add to his PGA Tour victory total, as he's been a member of LIV Golf since the Saudi-backed league debuted in 2022.

Lefty has yet to notch a LIV victory and has actually only finished in the top 10 on the individual leaderboard on two occasions.

But while the circuit kicks off its 2025 campaign this week in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Mickelson will not get the chance at that elusive victory, as the six-time major champion revealed that he'll be skipping the event due to a shoulder injury.

“While preparing for the season, I suffered a minor shoulder injury in the gym last week,” Mickelson wrote on Instagram. “I’m definitely disappointed that I will miss the season opener, but I look forward to playing in Adelaide. Ollie Schniederjans will tee it up for me this week and I will be pulling for my teammates from home.”

Schniederjans, once the world's top-ranked amateur, enters the week with a lot of momentum, earning a four-stroke victory over Bryson DeChambeau this past weekend on the Asian Tour's International Series India in New Delhi.

Betting odds for the 2025 WM Phoenix Open

The PGA Tour will now head to the Stadium Course at TPC Scottsdale for the annual playing of the WM Phoenix Open.

The 132-man field will feature 15 of the top 30 players in the Official World Golf Ranking, a list headlined by world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who made his 2025 debut this past week at Pebble Beach, tying for ninth.

Scheffler, of course, recorded his first PGA Tour victory at this tournament in 2022, won it again in 2023, and tied for third a season ago. Naturally, he's the heavy betting favorite at DraftKings heading into this 2025 edition.

• Scottie Scheffler: +300
• Justin Thomas: +1200
• Hideki Matsuyama: +1600
• Sungjae Im: +2200
• Sam Burns: +2500
• Tom Kim: +3000
• Sepp Straka: +4000
• Sahith Theegala: +4000
• Corey Conners: +4000
• Byeong Hun An: +4500