PGA Golf Handicapping – AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am
The AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am comes our way this week – three courses will be played before the final round Sunday. They include Pebble Beach (PB), Spyglass Hill (SH) and Monterey Peninsula (MP).
Cappers Picks Golf handicappers have all your latest golf news and information so be sure to make us your trusted source for up-to-the-minute golf details. PGA Golf betting fans will also have plenty golf action to focus on as this year’s PGA Majors are on the horizon.
2014 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am
Location: Pebble Beach, California, United States
Course: Pebble Beach Golf Links
Date: Feb 6-9, 2014
Total Purse: US $ 6,600,000
Winner’s Share: US $ 1,188,000 (18% of total purse)
Odds from [dfads params=’groups=63740&limit=1&return_javascript=0′]
Defending Champion: Brandt Snedeker ($1,170,000)
Pebble and Spyglass each play to a par of 72, featuring four par 5s and four par 3s, with MP a par 70 with three par 5s and five par 3s.
Pebble Beach, where each of the pros will play one round and which will host the final round Sunday is the shortest course the Pros will play this year at 6,816 yards. But small greens will be tough as always, wind will be typically present and the appearance of some celebrities to take the entries off their game will once again add intrigue to this unique event.
So who should we keep our eyes on this week? Which player may emerge victorious Sunday? Let’s break it down.
The Favorites:
Dustin Johnson 12/1
Two time winner here – 2009 and 2010 actually missed the cut last year. But he also has a T7 and a T5 among his six visits to this tournament. Add in a T8 at the US Open when it was played here and Johnson looks like a shoe-in for a good result this week. He last played at the Hyundai – a T6 which started his year off on a positive note.
Jason Day 12/1
Hard not to love Jason Day this week – he has made the cut all 4 times he’s played this tournament with two T6’s and a T14. He has finished top 15 in his last seven starts all over the globe including a win in Australia at the end of 2013. He is coming off a T2 at Torrey Pines in his first action of this year and should be right in the mix Sunday.
Phil Mickelson 12/1
Lefty’s won here four times and has eight top 10s but his back issues are definitely reason for concern – a T42 last week in a tournament he was favored is further proof. Phil is the all-time money leader on this track but his back problems have me staying away again this week.
The Contenders:
Hunter Mahan 16/1
Finished T4 last week and now heads to a track he really likes – his last three trips to Pebble for the Pro-Am have resulted in a runner-up, T15, T16. Mahan appears to be peaking ahead of this weekend – he should have a good week for sure.
Jimmy Walker 22/1
Has some very good results at this event – a couple of T9s and a T3 in his last three trips and never has he entered in such good form. The last time we saw him however he missed the cut at the Farmers (he was sick) after a win at the Sony. He has two wins already this year and leads the FedEx Cup – no reason to question his form.
Jordan Spieth 22/1
Spieth is a name to watch this year for sure but is coming off a pedestrian T19 at Torrey Pines, mostly because of a balky ankle. He did finish T22 here last year – finally some course history to digest! He is a dangerous guy and although I am not backing him this week, I wouldn’t be shocked to see Spieth do well.
Brandt Snedeker 28/1
Defending champion here hasn’t started his season all that well – AT ALL! He has a T58, MC, and T61 on his résumé – clearly in a funk. Injury and poor play has me off the Sneds wagon for the time being.
Chris Kirk 33/1
There are a lot of reasons to like Kirk this week – he already has a win and a second this year and he did finish second here last year. The only concern? A 76th place finish last week after an opening round 65.
[ad-1198200]
Graeme McDowell 33/1
Makes his 2014 PGA TOUR debut this week on a track that he won the 2010 US Open and which he had an eighth place finish way back in 2005. Not knowing a whole lot about his current form, I hesitate to back him but there is little doubting his affinity for this track.
Kevin Stadler 40/1
The moons seem to be aligning for Stadler – he won in impressive fashion last week and finished T3 here last year. Stadler was terrific last week but I always caution against players that won the week before. Golf hangovers are a real thing!
Pat Perez 40/1
Has quietly put together a couple of impressive results – a T2 at the Farmers and a decent finish last week despite collapsing in his final round. He has made nine of 11 cuts here with three top 25s and a second place finish back in 2002. Perez is playing his best golf in quite some time and despite being relatively quiet, is one of the hotter players on TOUR.
Patrick Reed 40/1
Is another guy that enters in very good form – a T19 last week was his third straight top 20 finish which includes a win at the Humana – also a Pro-Am similar to the Pebble Beach. He finished T7 here last year and enters this year in terrific form.
The Sleepers (50/1 or higher):
Jason Kokrak 50/1
Has four starts this year and has made the cut in every one including a T15 last week at the WMPO. He missed the cut here last year but did have a T9 on this track in 2012. Kokrak is an absolute bomber that is making quite a name for himself this season on TOUR,
Kevin Na 50/1
I had him as my sleeper last week and he let me down with a T19 – his third top 20 this year. He was T22 here last year and finished a very good T5 in this event in 2012.
Matt Jones 50/1
Is coming off a T12 at the Waste Management – his third top 15 in his last four starts. He has made five of six cuts at Pebble Beach including a T10 in 2010 and a T15 in 2011.
The Pick:
My pick this week is Jason Day at 12/1. His current form and his history on this track all point to an impressive win at Pebble Beach.
My sleeper is Matt Jones at 50/1. He has been very solid of late and has been good at this event.
The Aussies are clearly on my radar this week – good luck!
