AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am
By Sportsbook.ag
It's been quite the start to our PGA Tour betting previews in 2017. After two straight weeks of near misses with Adam Hadwin in the CareerBuilder Challenge and Brandt Snedeker in the Famers Insurance Open, we finally got to the winner's circle last week with Hideki Matsuyama. Matsuyama prevailed in a playoff over Webb Simpson as the young Japanese phenom defended his title.
This week we've got one of the players favorite events on Tour in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
The favorites for this year's tournament feature numerous multiple-time winners of this event as Dustin Johnson (+800), Phil Mickelson (+1500) and Brandt Snedeker (+1600) have all won this event at least twice since 2007.
Mickelson leads the way with four all-time wins at this tournament and his 2nd place finish to Vaughn Taylor a year ago will have him near the top of everyone's betting boards. Let's take a look at some other golfers to keep a close eye on this week.
Golfers to Watch:
Justin Rose (12/1) – Rose has played just two events since the calendar flipped over to 2017 and his results have been spectacular. Rose finished 2nd at the Sony Open in mid-January and followed that up with a T4 at the Farmers Insurance Open two weeks later. His all around game has been in top form so far this season and nothing should change this week at Pebble Beach.
At this event last year Rose finished T6 at -12, but if it wasn't for a tough showing in Round 3 (shot 72) he would have likely gone all the way. After winning Olympic Gold last summer and parlaying that into more success this year, bettors have to have much more faith in Rose putting together a complete four rounds to win this event. He's got everything going for him at the moment and the 12-1 odds offer a solid payday.
Patrick Reed (30/1) – Reed finished T6 with Rose in this tournament last year and that came on the heels of a T29 in 2015. Reed finished with -12 scores in both of those events and whit his move up the world rankings and into that elite category in 2016, the eccentric Reed could get his first win of 2017 this week. Some bettors may be a little turned off of Reed after his 76 on Sunday of the Waste Management Phoenix Open last week, but prior to that he had three straight events of finishing 10th, T6, and T12 this year. Add in the fact that last year's -12 score came thanks to 2nd and 4th round scores of 65 surrounded by rounds of 72 and 73 and like Rose, if Reed can put it together for all four rounds, he'll definitely be in the mix on Sunday afternoon.
Matt Jones (100/1) – Jones is not a household name among golf's best, but the 36-year-old Aussie loves to play this event. A year ago he finished with a -9 score, good enough for a T11 finish, and 2015 saw him be even better with a T7 finish at -16. Like the other two guys mentioned earlier, it's been on poor round a year that has hindered Jones' ability to be in the winner's circle at tourney's end, but with consecutive top-11 finishes at this event, he's more than worth a small shot at this huge underdog price.
AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am Preview
By Matt Fargo
Covers.com
After another thrilling finish at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, the PGA Tour returns to California this week for the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Pebble Beach Golf Links is one of three host courses for the event along with Spyglass Hill and Monterey Peninsula Country Club Shore Course. A traditional playing cut of the top 60 and ties will be made after 54 holes on Saturday giving players one extra day to make a move.
Although the Shore Course will play as a par 70 for the tournament, it will likely again replicate Poppy Hills in being the course where competitors feel they should post their best score of the week as it is the second shortest course on tour. Five years ago the field was cut from 180 to 156 players to help alleviate snails-pace of some of the rounds. Some foursomes took over six hours to complete their rounds and the lesser field has helped alleviate some of that the last few years.
Pebble Beach is one of the player's favorite stops on tour and for good reason. But it comes with a price. Hitting greens is essential to provide birdie opportunities and scoring on the par fives is also crucial. Experience has played a big role in this event as a good track record will take precedence over those who have not played much or played well here in the past. Current strong form is also valuable as four of the last six winners have had a top five finish in one of their previous two starts.
Experience is crucial here because Pebble Beach and Monterey are extremely short courses while Spyglass is a much different layout even though it is relatively short as well. Knowing what to hit in certain spots is the key. Driving distance is not important but scrambling and proximity to the hole are because of the small and challenging greens. The putting surfaces are Poa Annau which makes them slow and bumpy and unpredictable at times. There is where proximity to the hole becomes very valuable.
Weather will be a factor over the first couple days as rain and wind are in the forecast which is another reason experience is so vital as tough conditions can wreak havoc on players that are unfamiliar with the weather in the peninsula. Course management is important for every round at every event but when bad weather hits Carmel Bay, bad things can happen if you do not know what you are doing. The good news is that the outcome will not be decided by the weather as the weekend is looking good.
The field is relatively strong with eight of the top 25 players in the world teeing it up this week highlighted by World No. 1 Jason Day, No. 4 Dustin Johnson and No. 6 Jordan Spieth. The defending champion is Vaughn Taylor who came out of nowhere after not getting into the tournament until Monday to claim his third career PGA Tour win. It was his first start of the 2017 season and after that win, he missed five consecutive cuts and his best finish after that was a T24.
Two-time winner Dustin Johnson is the favorite at +725 followed closely by Jordan Spieth ay +800. Top ranked Jason Day is listed at +1,200 with Justin Rose (+1,500), four-time winner Phil Mickelson (+1,700) and two-time winner Brandt Snedeker (+1,800) closely bunched. Jon Rahm (+2,000) and Jimmy Walker (+2,100) are the remaining players listed at less than +3,000.