The amateurs are out alongside the professional again on the PGA Tour this week as the stars of golf mingle with those from stage, screen and sport for the AT&T Peeble Beach Pro Am, always a popular event among those who turn up for it.
Phil Mickelson certainly had fun here 12 months ago when he picked up his latest PGA Tour title and after a decent spin in Saudi Arabia last week he is here looking to defend his title. Some huge names will once again take him on though.
Recent Winners
2019 – Phil Mickelson
2018 – Ted Potter Jr
2017 – Jordan Spieth
2016 – Vaughn Taylor
2015 – Brandt Snedeker
2014 – Jimmy Walker
2013 – Brandt Snedeker
2012 – Phil Mickelson
2011 – D.A Points
2010 – Dustin Johnson
The Format
Every professional in the tournament is paired up with an amateur player to play each of the three courses once over the first three rounds of the competition. Once those three rounds are completed the leading 60 pros and 25 pairings quality for Sunday with the tournament concluding over the delightful Pebble Beach course.
The Courses
Once again the usual three courses are in play this week which are Pebble Beach Golf Links, Spyglass Hill and Monterrey Peninsula. For the first time in a while one of them, Spyglass Hill, stretches beyond the 7,000 yard mark but it is a par 72 like Pebble Beach so it will isn’t exactly long. The courses will be set up quite easy with the amateurs playing so once again we are in for another low scoring affair.
This isn’t a week where pounding the life out of the ball is required but it does no harm if you can do that because we are looking for a winning total well into the 20s under par. The big factors are accuracy with the irons and a hot putter. You won’t be winning around these tracks if you don’t hole a serious amount of putts. Keep players suited by the wind in mind given that we are on the coast for half the event.
The Field
The field is loaded with star names from around the world this week including the twice former champion Dustin Johnson, who heads up proceedings, and the defending champion Phil Mickelson. Former US Open winner on this course, Graeme McDowell is back looking for more success after his Saudi win last week while looking deeper into the year, both the Ryder Cup captains are also in the field with a tee time this week.
Other notables in the event, from Europe are Paul Casey, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Alex Noren and Viktor Hovland while American stars include Jordan Spieth, Patrick Cantlay, Matt Kuchar and Brandt Snedeker. There are also appearances from the likes of Branden Grace, Daniel Berger, Kevin Kisner, Kevin Na and plenty more in what should be a decent week as we head up towards some great tournaments.
Market Leaders
Dustin Johnson is the favourite this week at 13/2. He has won here twice but his last win was 2010 which might say something. That was the year he completely messed up the US Open from out in front so it might be that there is some mental scarring there, because he should also have won this the year Ted Potter Jr won a couple of years ago. I said it ahead of the Saudi tournament last week that I’m not sure DJ is in prime nick and even if he was his record of blowing events here would have been running for the hills rather than taking the 13/2 on offer.
Patrick Cantlay is a class act who will undoubted win on Tour again this year. Whether it is here in a low scoring shootout I’m not so sure. He is a pretty serious dude on the golf course and that isn’t always the requirement here. He has also been known to putt a bit ordinary for my liking as well. They are big concerns and although I like him a lot I can’t say I like the 12/1 quotes all that much so he’s a pretty easy swerve.
Paul Casey and Jason Day are both 20/1 shots to win the tournament this week. The latter has shown signs of coming back to form over the last couple of weeks but we’re still taking his health for granted, and while I’m prepared to do that for a 33/1 or bigger shot, I’m not for a 20/1 poke. There’s nothing to suggest Paul Casey can’t win around here but whether you can justify him being a value play or not is another issue. He isn’t for me.
Brandt Snedeker is a 22/1 shot to take this title for a third time. He almost did that at Torrey Pines a couple of weeks ago and with the amount of golf he has played already this year, a missed cut in Phoenix last week probably wasn’t the end of the world. We know Snedeker has what it takes to deliver the goods in this tournament but my gut feel is that he is just slightly too short in a field of this quality. It is 25/1 bar those named.
Main Bet
I’m going with just the one main bet this week and having a few darts at the outsiders in an event which throws up a number of big priced players who either win the tournament or make the frame and I sense that could be the case this week. My main bet though comes in the form of Adam Hadwin, the Presidents Cup star who I’m hoping will kick his 2020 campaign into life on a series of courses which should suit him nicely.
Hadwin is relentless when it comes to hitting greens in regulation and he is a very good putter, one of the more underrated at that discipline on the PGA Tour and that is a good combination for this tournament, one which he recorded his best effort at last year when he made the top 20. He is eighth in the total putting statistic on the PGA Tour this season which also should see him go nicely and at 60/1 he’s my main bet here.
Outsiders
The first of the outsiders for me this week is Nate Lashley. Lashley won the Rocket Mortgage Classic last season with a -25 score so we know he can go low when the need arises and he comes into this week off the back of a third placed finish at the Phoenix Open last week, further indication that he can score well when required. That was the second time he has finished third this season so he is in pretty decent touch. He was hitting his irons well last week and you don’t score around Scottsdale if you can’t putt so he should enjoy himself on these comfortable layouts here too.
Scott Stallings has a decent record around here with finishes of 14-7-3 in the last three outings across these tracks. Often familiarity here is a big thing so that is very much to his advantage. Stallings is an aggressive player and this tournament is built for those kind of players so we shouldn’t be surprised that his record here is as strong as it is. Given how well he plays this event the 100/1 on Stallings looks a decent price to be one of our darts.
Patrick Rodgers is another who is an excellent putter and as I keep on saying that is such a big thing around here. He arrives here in decent touch after a top 10 at Torres Pines and another top 20 at Phoenix last week. Rodgers was in the top 10 here in 2018 and while he missed the cut last year his form was in tatters then. He has rediscovered his long game now and looks ready to be the player we all thought he was going to be when he burst onto the scene. Everything you need to be successful in this tournament he has and at 90/1 I’ll pay to see how close he goes to doing it.
My last bet is a real sleeper in the form of Brian Gay. He arrives here in no form whatsoever but you can’t ignore his last two renewals in this event which has seen him finish in the top eight on both occasions. There is no fluke in that because he is one of the best putters on the PGA Tour and there is absolutely no strain on his long game with the way these tracks are set up for the week. There is something about this part of the world that gets him going and while he’s missed his last two cuts there was a test off the tee in those tournaments. He has a bit of freedom here and may well hit the frame again as a result.
Tips
Back A.Hadwin to win AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 61.00 with Coral (1/5 1-7)
Back him here:
Back N.Lashley to win AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 81.00 with Betfair (1/5 1-8)
Back him here;
Back S.Stallings to win AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 101.00 with 888sport (1/5 1-6)
Back B.Gay to win AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 251.00 with 888sport (1/5 1-6)
Back them here:
Back P.Rodgers to win AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 91.00 with BetVictor (1/5 1-6)
Back him here:
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