The only new addition to the PGA Tour's signature event series in 2024, the Pro-Am will tee off on Thursday (Friday AEDT) at Pebble Beach Golf Links and Spyglass Hill with a reduced field of 80 of the world's best golfers.
Included in their ranks will be Australian trio Adam Scott, Cam Davis and Jason Day, who will be vying for a share of a $US20 million ($A30 million) purse in forecast rainy and windy conditions.
This year marks a tournament debut for world No.1 Scottie Scheffler along with major winners Collin Morikawa and Japan's Hideki Matsuyama.
Former world No.1 Rory McIlroy is back for the first time since 2018, while two-time PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas is making his first appearance since 2014.
The pro-am portion of the tournament has been scaled back to Thursday and Friday only.
Everyone will play each course once over the first two days and there will be no 36-hole cut before the pros proceed to Pebble Beach for the third and fourth rounds.
Thomas appears to have moved on from a tough 2023 season, tying for third in his first outing of 2024 at The American Express.
"I got into some bad habits swing-wise last year," Thomas said.
"It just took a little bit of time to get out of some of those."
The winner of The American Express, Nick Dunlap, entered the tournament as an amateur still studying at the University of Alabama.
After becoming the first amateur to win on tour since 1991, Dunlap turned pro and will make his professional debut this week.
"I've had numerous moments where you just have to take it all in, it's overwhelming," Dunlap said.
"But also, I've dreamed about doing this my whole life and playing golf on the PGA Tour.
"To finally be here and to be able to do that as a 20-year-old is pretty cool."
While players try to concentrate on the golf, the news of the week is the PGA Tour's newly finalised deal with a collection of US-based sports owners who are investing $US3 billion into PGA Tour Enterprises, its new for-profit wing.
Negotiations with the Saudi Public Investment Fund are ongoing, but it may mean a reunification of the splintered men's golf landscape is a step closer.
Englishman Justin Rose is the defending champion at Pebble Beach, while Jordan Spieth (2017), Canadian Nick Taylor (2020) and Tom Hoge (2022) are other past winners in the field.
The last Australian to win the tournament was Brett Ogle in 1993.
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