Another week, another exciting tournament to look forward to in the 2020 PGA Tour season. This weekend, the tour heads back to California for the annual AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
As usual, we have a full preview and betting tips for one of the most prestigious PGA Tour events of the season, which gets underway early Friday morning (AEDT) and continues throughout the weekend.
AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am Betting Tips
It was a solid result for Before You Bet and followers at the Waste Management Open last weekend as our top pick Justin Thomas finished T3 which helped us to pick up a nice Top 10 bet at odds of just over $2.00. We will look to continue that form as we head into the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am this weekend, which as always, boasts a strong field.
The Field
While there have definitely been some more packed fields in the PGA Tour season so far, the AT&T Pro-Am is pretty strong, particularly at the top. The 5th ranked golfer in the world, Dustin Johnson, will headline the field and he’ll be joined by another top 10 ranked player in Patrick Cantlay.
Jason Day will make his second start of the 2020 calendar year and rounds out the top three favourites in the betting markets. The other top chances in the eyes of the bookmakers are Paul Casey, Brandt Snedeker, Matt Kuchar, Phil Mickelson and Branden Grace.
Jordan Spieth has dropped outside of the top 50 in the world and will be looking to climb back into the conversation with another win at Pebble Beach after he lifted the trophy in 2017.
The Course
What more is there to say about Pebble Beach? Arguably the most famous public golf course in the world, Pebble Beach has hosted multiple major championships throughout it’s history including last year’s U.S. Open, which was won by Gary Woodland.
The AT&T Pro-Am isn’t just played at Pebble Beach though. As it is a pro-am event, the tournament utilises three different courses around the area, with the pros and their partners playing at each course over the first three rounds before the top half of the field return to Pebble Beach on Sunday.
Spyglass Hill Golf Club and Monterey Peninsula Country Club will be the other two courses in the rotation this year, but it’s Pebble Beach that we’ll be focusing on as players hoping to win this weekend will need to play two quality rounds on the famous course.
While the layout for the U.S. Open provides one of the toughest tests in all of golf, the course is much different when players take part in the AT&T Pro-Am. At just over 7,000 yards as a Par 72, length is no problem for the pros and with some of the widest fairways on tour, the course is not challenging off the tee.
Pebble Beach’s main challenge comes from the small greens that can be tough to find at times. Strong iron play on approach was the catalyst of Phil Mickelson’s victory at Pebble Beach last season and there is no doubt approach play will be key to winning again this year.
Tips
Throughout its history, the annual Pebble Beach tournament has been super conducive to repeat winners. In this field alone, three players have combined for a ridiculous nine tournament wins at Pebble Beach, with Phil Mickelson claiming five and both Brandt Snedeker and Dustin Johnson winning two each.
That makes us think that players who generally have aknck for taming Pebble Beach should continue to play well there, which gives plenty of credence to Jordan Spieth. The former No.1 player in the world hasn’t lifted a PGA Tour sanctioned trophy since he won The Open Championship back in 2017 and has subsequently dropped out of the top 50 in the rankings.
He missed the cut in the Waste Management Open on the weekend and has had a bit of a rocky start to the season. Why do we like him this weekend then? Because Pebble Beach isn’t difficult off the tee, where Spieth has suffered the majority of his issues this season. He has always been and will continue to be one of the top players in the world on and around the greens, and with his disadvantage off the tee marginalised at Pebble Beach, we think he represents great value.
In his last seven trips to Pebble Beach, Spieth has never failed to make the cut and boasts some high finishes in that period including one win and two further top 10s.
