The beautiful Pacific Ocean is the backdrop for this week’s PGA Tour event. The AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am played at the idyllic Pebble Beach, Monterey and Spyglass courses is a tribute to amateur course architecture and will provide the PGA Tours bets players a stern test.
The Course
The course needs very little by way of an introduction. We’ve all played it on our various computer and video games and we all remember Tiger’s fifteen stroke win in 2000 here. Pebble Beach Golf Links is a 6,816 yard, par 72 course that has hosted PGA Tour events since 1947 (including five majors). The course is also flanked by Spyglass Hill GC and Monterey Peninsula CC, courses that will be used during the Pro-Am event.
The Sound Bites
“When you actually dissect the stats like I did at the end of last year, my putting was nowhere near acceptable…[now comparing his stats with another PGA Tour player] but he holed more putts from 10 to 20 feet than I did, he won $3 million more than me last year.” – Ian Poulter on his putting woes.
“It’s one of those courses where even the best photography can’t do it justice. The scenery and the scale of this landscape are simply epic. For any golfer, professional or amateur, itís one of those “bucket list” courses. If you can, you should.” – Ernie Eels quite likes Pebble Beach.
The Defending Champion
Last year Jimmy Walker was on his ridiculously good run of wins and results that launched him to the top of the FedEx Cup standings and into a Ryder Cup position. Walker, under no final round pressure whatsoever shot a final round 74 to wine by one.
He’s in a similar run of form again this year. A second at Hyundai was followed by a win at Sony, and just last week he finished T7 at the Farmers Insurance Open.
The Contenders*
Jason Day – $9.00
Jimmy Walker – $9.00
Jordan Spieth – $13.00
Dustin Johnson – $17.00
Jim Furyk – $26.00
*AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am odds courtesy of Sportsbet Australia.
The Winner
Jason Day’s win last week at the Farmers Insurance Open might be the start of something special so he’s definitely in with shot. Jimmy Walker won the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am last year and has been consistently good this season again. Dustin Johnson finished second here last year and while he might be shaking off some rust, looked hand last week. Jordan Spieth was winning everything a while back. And Jim Furyk carries on the trend of only including notables with a J in there name; he’s playing this week for the first time since the Ryder Cup.
We’ll go with Walker.
Betfair:
Bet on Henrik Stenson to become the BMW PGA Championship Winner.
Paddypower:
Back Australia to take the Ashes home with them.
Betway:
Back Rafael Nadal to become the Mens French Open Winner.
Coral:
Back One For Arthur to win the Grand National.
Bet365:
Back Mexico to win the Confederations Cup.
