Dustin’s No Turkey At Pebble Beach

A stellar field head to Pebble Beach for the AT&T National Pro-Am event with Jason Day one of the favourites to win.

The Tournament

The PGA’s finest head back to the Pacific coast this week for the AT&T Pebble Beach. This is a Pro-Am event that dates back to 1937 and that was known as the Bing Crosby National Pro-Am until 1985. The tournament includes 156 professionals and the same number of amateurs playing in two man teams over three courses, before those who make the cut tackle the final round at Pebble Beach Golf Links.

The Courses

The three courses offer wildly different challenges. Poppy Hills is a relatively easy eighteen holes, featuring large, undulating greens and gettable par fives. Spyglass Hill is the toughest of the three, at which accuracy from the tee is essential. Pebble Beach has wide, inviting fairways and small greens, but is the most exposed to the coastal gales. Not every golfer enjoys the variable weather and notoriously slow play at this event, so punters should stick to those who’ve gone well there previously.

In The Bunker

After his victory at the Farmer’s Insurance Open last week, Jason Day heads to Pebble Beach as joint antepost-favourite. He’s obviously one of the best players in the field, and more than capable of registering back to back victories, but whilst his record there is hardly poor, he is yet to make the top five. I think there are others with better tournament credentials at bigger odds, so I’ll be swerving him at 8/1.

Recommended Bets

Dustin Johnson’s comeback last week ended after two rounds, but it was no surprise to see him miss the cut after such a lengthy lay-off and given his excellent record in this event, we can overlook that shaky return to action.

He’s made eight visits to Pebble Beach and recorded six top ten finishes, including victories in 2009 and 2010, and a second last year, and at 16/1 is a solid bet this week.

After his 2014 injury woes, Brandt Snedeker will be desperate to make up for lost time and the early signs are good. He hit a final round 66 to finish in the top ten at Phoenix and followed that up with a top twenty finish last week. His first win of 2015 probably won’t be long in coming and although he struggled at Pebble Beach last year, he won there in 2013. Back him at 25/1 to regain his crown.

The final name to add to your shortlist is Hunter Mahan, who returns to action this week after the birth of his second child. He was in solid but unspectacular form prior to his break, but is another player with an excellent record in this event. He’s made the top sixteen in each of his last four visits to Pebble Beach and was second there in 2011. He should be feeling good about life at the moment and is a decent bet at 28/1.