Defending champion Dustin Johnson has targeted a "big year" in 2020 as he tees up for just the second time since August at the Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisers.
The World Number Five claimed victory by two strokes at the inaugural event at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club last year, which preceded his WGC - Mexico Championship win three weeks later.
However, Johnson was disappointed with how his campaign tailed off, despite second placed finishes at the Masters Tournament and US PGA Championship, and hopes to be battling on many fronts, possibly including the Olympic Games in Tokyo this summer, if he can sort his season schedule.
"Last season was okay. Definitely didn't play quite as well as I would have liked to, especially towards the end of the year," Johnson said. "I think it was a little bit of everything. I don't think there was just one specific thing. I think everything was just okay. It wasn't good enough.
"Schedule is always a big part of your season. You sit down at the beginning of the year just to kind of schedule out to see what events fall where. Everybody is different on the amount of events they like to play in a row or how many weeks they want to have off.
"It's something that you constantly battle every year, making a good schedule that fits you. Obviously Olympic year is more difficult just because the way the schedule falls, and obviously it's an extra tournament that's in the season so they moved some things around.
"But yeah, obviously representing the United States in the Olympics is something that you'd definitely be proud to do. But is it going to fit in the schedule properly? I'm not really sure about that because there's so many events that are right there and leading up to it. So I'm still working with my team to figure out what's the best thing for me to do.
So shocked and heart broken. Thoughts and prayers go out to the Bryant family. The world of sports lost a legend. Just speechless. #RIPKobe
— Dustin Johnson (@DJohnsonPGA) January 27, 2020
"I'm looking forward to having a big year. I feel like the game is in pretty good form. Obviously I haven't played much since Atlanta but I had surgery in the off-season so I'm just kind of getting back into it. Everything feels really good, and I'm excited about this year."
Johnson also paid tribute to basketball star Kobe Bryant, who was among nine people - including his 13-year-old daughter Gianna - to have died in a helicopter crash near Los Angeles on Sunday, and revealed he had been in contact with the 41-year-old in recent months.
"He was a great ambassador of the game," Johnson said. "He was an idol to a lot of people, including me. I grew up watching him play basketball and everything he did.
"I did get to meet him. I actually was on a phone call with him not too long ago because he was one of the main investors in Body Armor, which is one of my sponsors. So we were on a call not too long ago. It's just tragic news."
