The pro’s of the PGA will head to beautiful Pebble Beach, California this week for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. The tournament will get started on Thursday Morning and continue through until Sunday Evening.
This is a very unique tournament due to the fact that it is played on three golf courses over three days, with a 4th day reserved for those that make the final cut. During those three days, pro golfers will tee it up alongside amateurs at Pebble Beach Golf Links, Spyglass Hill Golf Course, and Monterey Peninsula Country Club.
Before we look at our golfers for this tournament, let’s take a look at each course that the players will be on for the tournament.
Pebble Beach Golf Links
Pebble Beach Golf Links is the primary golf course for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. The course plays as a Par 72 and is just over 6,800 yards. The course is situated alongside the California coastline and is truly a beautiful course to play on. There are really three factors to take into consideration and to know about this course. First, the fairways are large, so if the players miss them, shame on them! You could land an airplane on these fairways so everyone should be on an even playing field. Second, the greens are very difficult! They are Poa Annua and are fast….lightning fast! Lastly, the winds usually become a factor, especially late in the day here.
Spyglass Hill Golf Course
The second course is Spyglass Hill Golf Course. SHG plays as a Par 72 and is roughly 6,960 yards. SGH was designed by Mr. Robert Trent Jones Sr. and is widely known as being the toughest course of Pebble Beach Pro-Am. SGH holds many bunkers and ponds that the players will have to maneuver around and overcome.
Monterey Peninsula Course
The Monterey Peninsula Course is considered the easiest course that the pros will play on this week. The course measures 6,958 yards. The greens on Monterey Peninsula are Poa Annua, which again, are very fast and cause some putting issues. The greens are really the only concern on this course, but if they are an average putter that can compensate for wind, the golfer should do fine.
Unlike most golf tournaments, AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am consists of a different style of cut. The golfers will play 3 days, Thursday, Friday and Saturday and the top 60 golfers and ties will make the cut.
When you are handicapping this tournament, there are a couple of key contributing factors that lead golfers to the winner’s circle. One of the biggest stats to follow this week is Greens in Reg. Over the past 12 years, 10 winners have ranked in the Top 6 in Greens in Reg; this means you should definitely look for those with high GIR numbers.
Another factor is driving distance. When you look down the list of winners, driving distance is a common denominator. In the last 10 years, 9 winners have ranked inside the Top 30 in Driving Distance.
Now that we’ve discussed the course and what it takes to win here at Pebble Beach let’s take a look at the golfers we like this week!
AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am Betting Odds
Dustin Johnson-5/1
Jason Day-9/1
Tony Finau-18/1
Jordan Spieth-20/1
Tommy Fleetwood-20/1
Matt Kuchar-20/1
Phil Mickelson-25/1
Paul Casey-25/1
Patrick Cantlay-25/1
Adam Scott-25/1
Patrick Reed-30/1
Branden Grace-30/1
Chez Reavie-30/1
Matthew Fitzpatrick-40/1
Shane Lowry-40/1
Adam Hadwin-40/1
Brandt Snedeker-50/1
Rafael Cabrera Bello-50/1
Cameron Champ-50/1
Sungjae Im-50/1
Jason Kokrak-50/1
Kevin Kisner-60/1
Russell Knox-60/1
Scott Piercy-60/1
Andrew Putnam-60/1
J.B. Holmes-60/1
Beau Hossler-80/1
Russell Henley-80/1
Lucas Glover-80/1
Charley Hoffman-80/1
Martin Laird-80/1
Jimmy Walker-100/1
Chesson Hadley-100/1
Pat Perez-100/1
Si Woo Kim-100/1
Austin Cook-100/1
Kevin Streelman-100/1
Dylan Frittelli-100/1
Ryan Palmer-100/1
Doug Ghim-100/1
Talor Gooch-100/1
Trey Mullinax-100/1
Nick Watney-100/1
J.J. Spaun-100/1
Graeme McDowell-125/1
Jim Furyk-125/1
Corey Conners-125/1
Michael Thompson-125/1
Ted Potter, Jr-125/1
Steve Stricker-150/1
John Catlin-150/1
Scott Stallings-150/1
Aaron Baddeley-150/1
Chris Stroud-150/1
Sung Kang-150/1
Keith Mitchell-150/1
Ryan Armour-150/1
Nate Lashley-150/1
Patrick Rodgers-150/1
Matt Jones-150/1
Brian Gay-150/1
Vaughn Taylor-150/1
Joel Dahmen-150/1
James Hahn-150/1
Sangmoon Bae-150/1
Dominic Bozzelli-150/1
Ernie Els-200/1
Davis Love III-200/1
Anders Albertson-200/1
Richy Werenski-200/1
Cameron Davis-200/1
Hunter Mahan-200/1
Nick Taylor-200/1
Michael Kim-250/1
Kramer Hickok-250/1
Curtis Luck-250/1
Adam Long-250/1
Ho Sung Choi-300/1
David Duval-2000/1
The Favorites
Jason Day – It’s hard to look past Day this week. He has great course history, including a 2nd place finish last year here, and comes in off a very strong performance at the Farmers Insurance Open two weeks ago. Day’s odds are not very good this week at 9/1, but he very well could be the golfer to beat!
Jordan Spieth – A lot of people are looking past Spieth due to his recent form, but we must not forget that he is a previous winner here at Pebble Beach. This type of tournament is what will get Jordan up to play, and it won’t shock me to see him competing on Sunday for the win. We actually get decent odds on Spieth this week at 20/1.
The Value Guys
Brandon Grace – Grace played great last week, and for several holes on the final day, he was in the lead over Rickie Fowler. Grace couldn’t hold off Fowler and ended up finishing in 2nd place. Grace played here last year and finished in 20th place. Grace’s accuracy will be key here and should give him a big benefit over some other players.
Shane Lowry – When we talk about guys that can play well in windy conditions, we must talk about one of the best in Shane Lowry. Lowry is coming off a 12th place finish at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic and a winning performance the week prior at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. If it gets windy, which is usually the case off the coast of California, Lowry goes from being a value guy, right to the top and becomes one of the favorites at 40/1.
The Longshots
Ted Potter Jr – Potter shocked everyone last year by coming in and winning the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, and now he returns to defend his crown at 125/1! You read that correct, Potter is +12500 this week, which is unheard of for a returning champ. That makes him one of the top longshot plays here this week!
Doug Ghim – Ghim has been doing well this year on the Web.com Tour, finishing in 3rd place last week at the Country Club De Bogota Championship and finishing in 20th place the week prior on the PGA Tour at the Farmers Insurance Open. Ghim is setting himself up for a nice run in the PGA and a win here at Pebble Beach, at 125/1 would be very nice!