The PGA Tour remains in California this week for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, an event in which many of the world’s most famous celebrities pair-up with top-golfers to try and win the team event, while the professionals battle it out for total prize money of $7,600,000.
The tournament was established in 1947 and has been part of the PGA Tour schedule ever since. It is now played over three courses, with players rotating on the first three days around the Monterey Peninsula, Spyglass Hill, and Pebble Beach golf courses. The cut then takes place after 54-holes, with the top-60 pros playing the final round played at Pebble Beach.
If the wind blows, some players can get unlucky with the draw but scoring tends to be low as all three courses play at less than 7,000 yards this week.
The Market Leaders
Lots of the top professionals decide to give this type of pro-am tournament a miss nowadays, but the absence of many top stars this year is a bit of a surprise considering they’re missing a chance to play the iconic Pebble Beach Golf Course that is hosting the 2019 US Open.
One top player that does relish the unique challenge of this event is Dustin Johnson and the 2009 and 2010 winner arrives here in excellent form having won the inaugural Saudi International last week. As well as his two wins here, he’s also posted top-5 finishes in five of the last eight years. The big negative is his 5/1 odds, and he’s passed over with the possibility he’ll be jetlagged after flying back from Saudi Arabia.
That could leave the door open for Jason Day, who is yet to win here but has finished 4/11/5/2 in the last four years. Day is notoriously slow, which is why he’s probably at ease with rounds that take six hours or more to play. His form has been trending nicely too, finishing 16/11/5 in his last three tournaments, and he looks worth a bet this week.
The Course Specialist
Another player that loves Pebble Beach is Phil Mickelson and he’s a three-time winner here in 2005, 2007, and 2012. He probably should have made it four wins here in 2016, when beaten by shock winner Vaughn Taylor, whilst he also finished second last year. Add in a fourth at the 2010 US Open and it’s easy to see why it could be fun to have Phil on your betting slip this week, especially considering he shot a 12 under par score of 60 two tournaments ago.
The Outsider
Plenty of fancied golfers have won this event, but it’s also been won by more than its fair share of outsiders. The reason for this is it gives short-hitters a chance to compete, and that’s why Graeme McDowell looks worth a punt this week.
The Irishman struggles on some of the very long modern courses, but he’s been playing okay of late and should find the layouts this week much more to his liking. Add in the fact he won the 2010 US Open here and he looks worth backing at three-figure prices.
Our AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am Golf Betting Tip
Jason Day (Each-Way)
Phil Mickelson (Each-Way)
Graeme McDowell (Each-Way)