One of the golf’s greatest gems hosts the most renowned pro-am tournament on the planet.
The modern format has us at Pebble, Montery Peninsula, and Spyglass Hill.
Final round on Sunday at Pebble for all the marbles.
Last year it was Tom Hoge taking the grand prize after out-dueling Patrick Cantlay and Jordan Spieth.
Pebble Beach is iconic for a reason.
It was designed by Jack Neville and Douglas Grant and opened in 1919.
If you’re digging into meaningful statistics, Strokes Gained: Approach is where to look.
The greens are tiny.
Players will miss plenty of greens, so Strokes Gained:Around the Green is a point of emphasis.
There are 118 bunkers on the course too, so give sand save percentage a look too.
More on that later.
Both courses feature poa annua greens which can provide for some bumpy putts late in the day.
Saw that in a big way last week at Torrey Pines.
Best remedy there, as always, is to hit em tight.
It just might be the best.
The 17th and 18th provide for some great finishes as well.
But I simply must give this award to the par 3 7th.
It’s a top 5 par 3 in all of golf.
It’s also the shortest hole on the entire PGA Tour.
But really it’s all about the views.
The Weather
This is pretty typical of the weather here every year in February.
Temperatures in the 40’s, 50’s, and maaybe creep into the low 60’s.
Wouldn’t be Pebble Beach without a little rain.
Hell, even this guy knew to bring his umbrella to knock-off Pebble Beach.
The thing to keep an eye on is the wind picking up as the tournament progresses.
Like most coastal tracks, the wind is one of the course’s most useful defenses.
Ya love to see it.
TV Coverage
It’s a CBS weekend y’all.
Always is for this tourney.
The Saturday broadcast is one of the more controversial broadcasts of the year.
Maybe PGA Tour Live on ESPN+ will help to alleviate that.
It’s not often you see a guy beat the scoring average by 15 strokes in a tournament.
Tiger beat the next best guy by 15 strokes in a major tournament.
That’ll never happen again.
The USGA slays it with these docs.
Here’s another 45 minute gem capturing it all.
The Trophy
Big time crystal for a very classic tournament.
you’re able to’t just show up on the scene and flash crystal.
It’s earned by grinding as a Tour mainstay year after year after year.
When you have a name like Bing Crosby attached to your tournament, these are the perks you get.
This baby has the potential to own any room you put it in.
The Celebs
Would be remiss not to give the list of notable celebs that’ll be out there.
Only 4 of the world’s top 50 are playing at Pebble.
The celebrity element used to be embraced, but I think it’s mostly viewed as a chore now.
The pro-am element often makes these rounds a 6-hour slog, and nobody likes that.
Plus, a couple guys have taken appearance fees to play the Saudi International, like Cam Young.
Can’t imagine the PGA Tour likes that.
Regardless, Matt Fitzpatrick and Jordan Spieth are co-favorites at +900 at theBarstool Sportsbook.
Regardless, I’m rolling withDenny McCarthy at +4000.
Finished 12th here last year and he’s a weapon with the flatstick.
Good price against a weak field.
Didn’t play all that well in the fall but that was literally months ago.
Webb Simpson +10000 To Win/Top 5 +2000/Top 10 +1000/Top 20 +400- See what I just said about Kiz.
Same thing, except he played the Sony and missed the cut.
That’s what I got.
