The American fended off compatriot Scottie Scheffler last year to win his first World Gold Championships.

The 64-man competition is split into 16 groups with just the group winners progressing to the knockout phase at the weekend.

The round of 16 is expected to be played on Saturday (March 26) morning with the semi-finals coming later in the day.

The final and third place playoff are due to be hosted on Sunday (March 27).

The 16 highest ranked players were put into separate groups, meaning defending champion Horschel, the 12th seed, will miss out on playing any of the pre-tournament favourites to begin with.

Horschel has been drawn in group 12 against fellow Americans Will Zalatoris and Cameron Tringale as well as Austria’s Sepp Straka.

Meanwhile, Spain’s number one seed Jon Rahm will compete in group one versus Patrick Reed and Cameron Young of the US and Sebastián Muñoz.

Rahm, the number one seed, will be one of the hot favourites after becoming the first-ever Spaniard to win the US Open in 2021.

Potentially the toughest group 11 with major champions Jordan Speith of the US, Adam Scott of Australia, Justin Rose of Britain and Keegan Bradley of the US.

America’s world number 10 Sam Burns, who recently retained the Valspar Championship, will miss the tournament to take a break.

Compatriot Maverick McNealy has replaced him and Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger has moved to first alternate.

"After three long weeks of golf, I feel that taking this week to rest and prepare for the busy stretch ahead is best," Burns said in a statement.

"I appreciate the support and look forward to seeing everyone soon."