Rory McIlroy admits the COVID-19 virus outbreak is a "scary" threat to his Olympic Games debut for Ireland in Tokyo this summer.

But the world number one, who opted out of the 2016 Olympics in Rio citing his fears over the Zika virus, admits all he can do right now is listen to the advice of the authorities.

"It's something that we're trying to stay on top of," McIlroy said ahead of the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill where he ended an 18-month winless streak in 2018 thanks to some pre-tournament putting lessons from Brad Faxon.

"If the organisers and Olympic Committee believe it's safe enough for athletes to go and compete in the Games, then you have to take their word for it.

"They are liaising with the people who are best at doing this, whether it's the CDC (Center for Disease Control) in this country or the World Health Organisation, then you have to trust their judgement is the right one.”

Speaking earlier in the week, McIlroy admitted the Coronavirus outbreak was far more serious than the mosquito-borne Zika virus but that he was hopeful he’d be teeing up in Tokyo in July.

“It is pretty scary what's happening at the moment but then I also haven’t thought ahead about qualifying for the Olympics so hopefully all will be okay that we can head to Japan,” he told reporters.

McIlroy, who tees it up today with Justin Rose and defending champion Francesco Molinari (1254 Irish time), arrives in Orlando in a rich vein of form.

He's had one win and another five top-five finishing in his last six starts and insists he's not thinking about the Masters just yet but focussed on executing his shots and playing good golf.

“For some people (the build-up) starts the Monday they arrive at Augusta, for others it starts in January,” he said. “For me, I realise I can’t make things too big in my head.

“If I start trying to gear up for Augusta in January, by the time Augusta came around in April, my head would be absolutely fried.

“So I try to push it out as late as possible. I’ve got four tournaments to play between now and then and my biggest concern and top priority are those four tournaments.”

He’s the red-hot favourite to lift the title in a $9.3 million event featuring 31 of the world’s top 50.

“This place has a lot of special memories for me,” McIlroy said of 2018, when he closed with a 64 to win for the first time since the 2016 Tour Championship.

“It was definitely to the catalyst for what I have done over the last two years, getting back to the top of the world rankings.

Pádraig Harrington. Picture: PGA of America

“It’s nice to get back on Bermuda greens and I am looking forward to getting going.”

As for the changes he’d like to see the PGA Tour make as it faces a challenge from the proposed Premier Golf League, McIlroy suggested that golf was over-exposed.

“I don’t want to come across as all elitist but some smaller fields, maybe a few more events with no cut,” he said.

“There are so many tournaments, there might be an over-saturation in golf. Being a golf fan these days can be a bit exhausting with all the different tournaments and different tours.

“Maybe streamline it a bit. That would be a good place to start a conversation.”

Ryder Cup skipper Pádraig Harrington tees off with Mark Hubbard and South Africa’s Christiaan Bezuidenhout (1157 Irish time) while Graeme McDowell partners Canadian Nick Taylor and Bubba Watson (1733 Irish time).

The Dubliner is more than pleased with the way his team his shaping up with six months to go to the end of the qualifying period.

As he told the 3 Off The Tee podcast, hosted by PGA professionals Ian St John and Harry Ewing, Shane Lowry has only increased his chances of making the team .

“I am actually very happy,” Harrington said. “So far, the winners who have won, you’d be delighted with any of them in the team. I’d say Lee (Westwood) and Graeme (McDowell), if they are playing well, I’d love to have their experience there. Shane’s statistical percentage of making the team has only been growing exponentially so far this season. His form is excellent. He is doing everything I could ask of him at this stage. I just want him to make it easy on me.

“Outside that, the good players are playing well, which is important, seeing somebody like Henrik Stenson coming back into nice form. Obviously our top players like Jon Rah, Rory and Tommy Fleetwood, they nearly only have to stand up from the position there are in to qualify at this stage. Then you have three or four rookies vying for positions, believe it or not, Shane being one of them.”

European Ryder Cup qualifying - World Points / European Points

McDowell knows he must remain in the world’s top 50 to have any chance of making the team but he is not too concerned if he fails to qualify for the Masters.

The Portrush man (40) is 50th in the world heading into this week’s event at Bay Hill and while he must remain there on the Monday after the WGC Dell Technologies Match Play at the end of the month, he is not getting overly stressed about Augusta, where he has rarely performed well.

Shane Lowry and Graeme McDowell at last year’s US Open. Picture © USGA

“I mean, Augusta's the only moving piece of the puzzle the next couple months,” said McDowell, who would in hindsight have skipped the WGC Mexico Championship rather than miss the Honda Classic for the first time in 10 years.

“I have to be top-50 in the world the Monday after Match Play. You probably know that more than I do. It's not going to be the be-all and end-all for me. I love Augusta. It is my favourite course in the world. It doesn't love me very much, though.

“But if I'm not there, it's not going to, it's not going to dampen any spirits or anything that's happened in the next three or four months. It will get in the way if I play the kind of golf I know I can play the next few weeks.

“And I would love to be there. I want to see my kids in boiler suits. That's kind of the visual. I haven't had a chance to do the par-3 with my kids yet because I haven't played the last few years. So I want to have the kids up at Augusta this year. That would be fun. But like I say, it's not going to change my life here in the short-term.”

McDowell hadn’t expected to make the field for Mexico but was obliged to take advantage of his start after winning in Saudi Arabia, such is the strength of the schedule at this time of year.

“I think you look at this stretch and you could argue that it's maybe a little too strong,” said McDowell, who was suffering from a heavy head cold in Mexico and finished 69th out of 72. “When you look at the stretch maybe between Augusta and PGA and PGA to U.S. Open, not trying to disrespect any of those events in that window, but there's a lot of golf right now.

“You've got an unbelievably good Florida swing sandwiched between two WGC events. I live in Florida, so I love the Florida swing. I didn't play the Honda last week for the first time in 10 years. I regretted not playing the Honda. I went to Mexico instead. Saudi got me into Mexico. I went down there. I didn't play well. I was, like, totally wished I would have skipped that event.

“Like, skipping WGC events it's just historically something you didn't really ever think about, but I think the value of the WGC has been reduced because the strength of everything else around it has got so much stronger. So the long and short of it is, outside of the major championships, there's so many great tournaments and scheduling becomes very difficult.

“So like I say, hindsight's 20/20. I wish I hadn't gone to Mexico. I wish I would have taken a week to reset and gone to the Honda. I think I would have loved it down there, just the way it played, seeing so many Europeans on the board.”