Armour seeks three-peat

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. --- Tommy Armour III will seek his third consecutive Callaway Golf Pebble Beach Invitational title against a diverse field from the four major professional tours beginning today.

Players from the PGA Tour, LPGA Tour, Champions Tour and Nationwide Tour as well as mini-tour players and club pros will compete in the 72-hole event, now in its 38th year. The first three rounds of the $300,000 event will be played at Pebble Beach Golf Links, Spyglass Hill Golf Course and Del Monte Golf Course.

George McNeill , who had two runner-up finishes this season and finished 57th on the money list, is the highest of the field's 12 PGA Tour players entered from the top 125 on the 2009 final money list.

John Cook , who won twice this season and finished third on the money list, heads the field of 11 Champions Tour entrants.

The inaugural LPGA Tour Championship in Houston, Texas, is also scheduled this week, reducing the Pebble Beach women's field to four players.

European Tour: Rory McIlroy is trying to become the youngest player to finish at the top of the European Tour money list in 30 years.

The 20-year-old Northern Ireland golfer leads the standings going into the season-ending Dubai World Championship, which starts today. McIlroy could become the youngest player to win the Order of Merit since Seve Ballesteros did it at the age of 19 in 1979.

- Two-time British Open champion Greg Norman predicts that the prize money in golf will continue to decrease because of the recession.

The 54-year-old Australian spoke before the start of the Dubai World Championship.

LPGA TOUR: Jiyai Shin can become the first rookie in more than three decades to win the player of the year award with a strong performance at this week's season-ending LPGA Tour Championship.

The $225,000 first prize would help her end Lorena Ochoa 's reign.

Ochoa has been the player of the year the past three seasons.

- The LPGA Tour has announced a 2010 schedule that has 24 tournaments -- 13 of them in the United States -- its smallest in nearly 40 years.

The 2010 season starts in Thailand on Feb. 18, with the first tournament in the United States coming March 25 at La Costa, Calif.