A strong contingent from the PGA Tour will make their way to California this weekend for the 2016 AT&T Pebble beach Pro-Am beginning on Thursday. Jordan Spieth will headline the field, but there will be a number of contenders that could come away with the victory – including Jimmy Walker, who has a win and four Top 10’s.
Event Details
Event: 2016 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am
Category: PGA
Date: February 11-14
Location: Pebble Beach Resort, Pebble Beach, California
The AT&T Pebble Beach National is a pro-am that is staged over the three courses at the Pebble Beach Resort in Pebble Beach, California. The courses are rotated over the first three days of action before a cut is made and the top-60 players left in the field are left to battle it out in the final round at the Pebble Beach course.
Past Five Winners
2015 – Brandt Snedeker -22
2014 – Jimmy Walker -11
2013 – Brandt Snedeker -19
2012 – Phil Mickelson -17
2011 – DA Points -15
What To Know About The Course
The course at Pebble Beach needs no introduction to the majority of golf enthusiasts. The iconic seaside course has hosted the US Open on five different occasions as well as the PGA Championship. The par 72, 6,816-yard course is one of the shortest on the PGA Tour and while it isn’t a very difficult test in terms of driving the wind can play tricks with the golfers at times. Spyglass could be the most difficult of the three venues despite being slightly shorter than the Monterey Peninsula. There are plenty of trees lining the course and the wind could make it that much more difficult to navigate. Monterey is the most generous of the three courses with slightly bigger greens than those at Spyglass. The greens are usually slightly faster than the other two courses as well.
The Field
The field for this event is fairly strong including two-time champion Brandt Snedeker, who won this event last season. Snedeker followed up a disappointing run at Torrey Pines to win here last year and Jimmy Walker won in 2014 following a missed cut, so while current form is important it isn’t the most relative factor. And speaking of form, Walker has three straight Top 15’s, so he is heading into this event with good momentum. Jordan Spieth is listed as the favorite to win this year’s tournament at +500 odds, followed by Jason Day at +800 and Dustin Johnson at +1000. Phil Mickelson is another intriguing option as a player that has won multiple tournaments here including most recently in 2012. Mickelson is listed at +2200 to win outright this weekend. Keep an eye out for J.B. Holmes, who has been playing very well of late. He has posted back-to-back top-six results as well as top eight in five of his last six starts. He should be in play at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
A Good Matchup To Bet: Brandt Snedeker over Jimmy Walker
Snedeker has been very consistent while recording two wins in three years as Pebble Beach and while it might be time for somebody else to win this tournament outright it is still worth targeting him in a favorable matchup. Snedeker led after the first two rounds a year ago, fell to second in the third round and then rallied back for the victory and another strong performance will allow him to edge out Walker from start to finish at this year’s tournament.
Top-Five Prediction: Jordan Spieth
This will be Spieth’s fourth year in a row at Pebble Beach and there is a good chance he would like to add a victory here to his already impressive list of accomplishments. Spieth was never really in contention despite posting a career-best seventh-place finish here a year ago and he will be well-rested heading in to this week’s action. It’s hard to bet against the best in the world producing another strong performance this week and while he certainly isn’t a lock to win he should be a good bet to place in the top five at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Top 10 Odds To Win Beach Pro-Am
Jordan Spieth +505
Jason Day +805
Dustin Johnson +1015
Brandt Snedeker +1050
Jimmy Walker +1550
Bubba Watson +1650
Phil Mickelson +2050
J B Holmes +2250
Brooks Koepka +2550
Justin Rose +1850
