PGA Tour: Tiger Woods and the Top 10 Candidates to Win at Pebble Beach

Of all the PGA Tour events leading up to the year's first major championship at the Masters tournament in April, the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am is easily among my favorites.

OK, comedian Bill Murray has a lot to do with my enjoyment of the three-course extravaganza. Not only is he one of my favorite actors, but he's a regular at this event and a pretty decent golfer as well. His guaranteed hijinks always make for interesting television, although last year he might have tarnished his image somewhat by teaming with D.A. Points to win the pro-am portion of the event.

Will he have his game face on this week as a result? I "seriously" doubt it.

To make things even more intriguing this year—the return of Tiger Woods.

Tiger has not played in this tournament since 2002. Given that he's in the midst of his Tiger 2.0 comeback, a stop to play Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill and Monterey Peninsula is an added bonus.

There is an overabundance of impressive—not to mention star-studded—talent in the field this week.

The National Football League alone is represented impressively. Tiger is teamed with Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo. Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is partnered with D.J. Trahan. New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is playing alongside Ricky Barnes. And San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh is teeing it up with Ryan Moore.

You'll also see appearances from the likes of Huey Lewis, George Lopez, Ray Romano, Don Cheadle and many others. As always, it should be very competitive. And a lot of fun.

Here are my top 10 candidates to win the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

Tiger Woods

Looking back at Tiger Woods' last few competitive rounds of golf—dating back to late last year—it's safe to say he's returning to the form that has made him one of the best golfers to ever play the game.

Note: returning, not returned.

Tiger's not in his prime right now, but I'm not ruling out an explosion of low scoring that could propel him to a win at Pebble Beach.

After playing three great rounds of golf at Abu Dhabi two weeks ago, Tiger fizzled on the final day to finish in third place behind Robert Rock and Rory McIlroy. That had to leave a bad taste in his mouth after starting the final round tied for the lead, but overall it was a very solid performance.

Tiger will be ready to roar with Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo as his amateur partner. Romo might be as competitive as Tiger—plus he's a scratch golfer—so I expect this dynamic duo to be pretty serious out there. And anything less than a top-10 finish would be monumentally disappointing for both of them.

D.A. Points

D.A. Points is more than just the defending champion of this tournament. He's actually playing well enough right now to repeat his 2011 performance.

Along with his returning amateur partner, the incomparable Bill Murray, Points is coming off two top-10 finishes this year—at the Sony Open in Hawaii and the Farmers Insurance Open—plus a T12 at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions.

Points slipped a bit last week (T45) at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, but he is already halfway to a million dollars in earnings in 2012.

From Points' pre-tournament presser:

"

My expectations are probably too high. Every day I'm trying to find some way to kind of bring down my expectations. It's really another week. Of course I want to win. I wanted to win last week and I wanted to win the week before that. I'm just going to try to keep doing the same things that I've done to get off to a pretty solid start.

"

Points already knows what it's like to play alongside Bill Murray, so expectations won't be a concern this year like they were in 2011.

"I heard it was difficult to play with him, that he does a lot of crazy stuff," Points said. "Obviously, there's going to be some extra attention because Bill and I won last year, but if we can just have a good time, it will take care of itself."

Bill Murray? Extra attention? Do you think so?

Nick Watney

Nick Watney hasn't really even warmed up in 2012 yet.

He started with a respectable T12 at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions but followed that with a disappointing T60 at the Farmers Insurance Open. Most recently, he had to withdraw early last week due to an illness before the Waste Management Phoenix Open even got started.

But Watney is one of the brightest young talents on the PGA Tour and I expect him to get things rolling this week. After all, he's from (sort of) nearby Sacramento, Calif., and he typically does pretty well here—seven straight cuts made and a T6 last year.

Look for Nick Watney's name on the leader board as he makes his way around Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill and Monterey Peninsula.

John Huh

Huh? John Huh?

That's what I found myself saying as Huh emerged with his name in the mix at tournaments the past two weeks. He finished T6 at the Farmers Insurance Open and T12 at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

I'm not sure we'll see his name as a fixture on PGA Tour leader boards throughout the 2012 season, but Huh has certainly earned the attention he is currently receiving.

Golf fans might still be saying "Huh?" when they hear his name, but I think his success will continue this week and into the immediate future—maybe even longer. Huh is part of a strong 2012 rookie class. He's a promising young player who could ride a wave of confidence for an extended period of time with a strong finish at Pebble Beach.

Phil Mickelson

Phil Mickelson is off to a disappointing start in 2012. He was 10 under par but finished T49 at the Humana Challenge. Then he missed the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open. And last week he was up and down before tallying a T26 at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

Mickelson has said, on a number of occasions this year, that he is excited and feeling good about the 2012 season, but he has done nothing to prove that yet.

I'm in Mickelson's corner to turn things around this year, however, and Pebble Beach looks like a great place for him to get it going.

He finished in the top 10 in each of the past two years here, he's a three-time champion and nobody has won more money at this golf tournament. That's why I'm sticking with Mickelson to do well this week and kickstart his 2012 season.

Spencer Levin

What if things work out for Spencer Levin the way they did for Kyle Stanley?

Let me set up an unlikely but possible scenario for you.

Two weeks ago, Stanley had a six-shot lead but his final-round collapse cost him a tournament victory at the Farmers Insurance Open. Last week, he rebounded with an impressive final-round 65 to win the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

It was a remarkable show of determination and kudos to Stanley for staying mentally tough after a devastating defeat the week before.

Last week, it was Spencer Levin whose six-shot lead ended in a final-round collapse that cost him the aforementioned Phoenix Open. So, wouldn't it be incredible if a similar fate awaited him?

I know the odds are stacked against Levin pulling off the same result, but I say, "Why not?"

He is playing some pretty decent golf right now and if he learns the same lesson Stanley learned, he'll find himself with a win this week.

OK, I won't go so far as to predict Levin's victory, but I like his top-10 chances for sure.

Dustin Johnson

Dustin Johnson is frequently described as a great athlete.

And while I agree with the designation, I can't really understand why an example of him dunking a basketball is a consistent reference point.

I know some tall people who are not good athletes and they can dunk a basketball. My point is, you don't have to be a good athlete to dunk a basketball. You just need to be tall.

Dustin Johnson is 6'4". He ought to be able to dunk a basketball. If he starts jumping over cars or doing back flips in the process, call me.

I think I would look more at his next level flexibility and the fact he can hit a golf ball while standing on a stability ball.

Try that. Now that's athletic.

Plus, he makes hitting the ball 309 yards off the tee—his current 2012 average—look easy.

D.J. has played in this tournament seven times, winning twice. His scoring average is 69.71. How much athleticism it took to compile those numbers I don't know. But the numbers are precisely why I like his chances this week.

Rickie Fowler

When is Rickie Fowler going to get his first victory on the PGA Tour?

Blah blah blah blah blah.

I say give the guy a break. He's still just a kid. But it's a question the flamboyant and supremely talented Fowler will continue to have to answer until he manages to win a golf tournament here in the United States.

I predicted it would happen for Fowler this year, but it would behoove him to get it out of the way as quickly as possible so he can get that monkey off his brightly clothed back and get on with his promising future.

Fowler doesn't have much history in this event. He finished T27 in 2010. But I like him to do well in just about any tournament he enters. Maybe Pebble Beach will be the place he creates some history he'll remember for a lifetime.

Jeff Maggert

When I predicted success for "old guys" like Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia and Steve Stricker in 2012, I wasn't even considering adding the almost-48-year-old Jeff Maggert to the list.

But Maggert has been impressive in the 2012 season thus far.

He finished T13 at the Sony Open in Hawaii, alone in fifth place at the Humana Challenge and T26 in the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

He's also currently first on the PGA Tour in all-around ranking and second in scoring average.

Maggert is getting it done and I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see him get it done this week as well. He holds the course record at Monterey Peninsula, where he shot a third-round 62 last year, so his familiarity with success here is only going to help his chances.

Hunter Mahan

Hunter Mahan is easing into his 2012 PGA Tour season.

His T6 finish at the Farmers Insurance Open—the only US tournament he has played thus far—was impressive, but his game went awry at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters last week and he missed the cut.

That was a wasted trip to Doha, but I still like Mahan's chances this week. He finished second here last year and I expect big things from him this season.

Mahan, currently the No. 21-rated golfer in the world according to the World Golf Ranking, has the game to be a superstar on the PGA Tour. A strong finish this week could go a long way in setting him up for continued success in 2012.