PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – It feels like a lifetime ago, but Rory McIlroy remembers the details vividly.

Tiger was charging, world No. 1 was on the line and all eyes were on the 22-year-old McIlroy. It was the 2012 Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches (then the Honda Classic) and another early chapter in McIlroy’s growing stardom. McIlroy withstood a Sunday 62 from Woods and maneuvered the famed "Bear Trap" unscathed for a two-shot victory, his fifth on the PGA TOUR. With it, McIlroy earned world No. 1 for the first time and became the second-youngest to hold the position, behind Woods.

“It was a really cool moment,” McIlroy said Wednesday. “I can't believe it's 12 years ago, but here we are.”

And here McIlroy is again. Once a regular stop on McIlroy’s calendar, scheduling difficulties kept him from returning to the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches, but he will make his 10th start, and first since 2018, at the event this week. The extra week between the West Coast Swing and the Florida Swing aided in his return, as did the new title sponsor.

“I thought it would be a good time to step up and show some support for the tournament,” McIlroy said.

It’s part of a bulked-up early season schedule for McIlroy, who will play the Arnold Palmer Invitational by Mastercard and THE PLAYERS Championship this month, then take two weeks off before playing the Valero Texas Open and the Masters in back-to-back weeks.

He can’t do it this week, but McIlroy could take the title of No. 1 during those events. Currently in second behind Scottie Scheffler, McIlroy could reclaim the top spot with a win at Bay Hill next week, when Scheffler is also in the field.

McIlroy is bullish on his game, even if his recent PGA TOUR results don’t inspire that belief. McIlroy’s confidence mostly lies in his DP World Tour play. He was runner-up at the Dubai Invitational in January before winning the Hero Dubai Desert Classic the following week. He carded a pair of middling results to begin his 2024 FedExCup Season – T66 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and T24 at The Genesis Invitational – but felt his game was in “pretty good shape," apart from a few big errors, notwithstanding.

“I feel like Pebble, the weather disrupted it and the courses were super soft,” McIlroy said. “And then Riv was pretty good. I made a mess of 15 and 16 on the first day (combined 5-over), but apart from that, I felt like I played some pretty good golf.”

There should be some comfort for McIlroy this week, sleeping in his own bed and playing a course he knows supremely well. In addition to his win in 2012, he finished runner-up in 2014. The PGA TOUR doesn’t make it to Hollywood, Northern Ireland, so this, in many ways, is his (adopted) hometown event. McIlroy was renting a house In Jupiter when he won the event in 2012. Many things have changed in that time, including his house, which he now owns. The 18th-hole pin flags of all his victories are displayed in his home gym. His flag from this event in 2012 is up there, as are all his major championship victories.

“I go in there and I see all the flags on the wall and I want to add flags to those walls,” McIlroy said. “It's a nice moment to reflect on what you achieved, but it's also really good motivation in terms of what you still want to do in the game.”

There’s plenty of space for more of them. And by Sunday night, there could be another.