Preview and Prediction for the 2015 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am
It’s AT&T Pebble Beach: When Amateurs Attack.
Yes, it’s the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and Chris Berman is back, back, back. The Great One, Wayne Gretzky, is here, where he'll be in close quarters with his future son-in-law, Dustin Johnson, while getting in a round of golf on the California cliffs.
For the tournament at hand, there are six returning champions of the event: Jimmy Walker, Brandt Snedeker, Davis Love III, DA Points, Vijay Singh and Johnson.
Jim Furyk marks the final player in the top 30 to finally make a 2015 start. He hasn’t played since the Ryder Cup, so it’s anyone’s guess how he’ll perform in his 2015 debut.
There’s Larry the Cable Guy, Michael Bolton, Kenny G and Huey Lewis (with no news) putting the Am in amateur.
No Tiger, no Phil, no problem. Read on to get a tournament primer for yet another event on the West Coast swing.
Where to Watch and Tournament Info
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Where
Pebble Beach Golf Links
6,816 yards, Par 72
What
Total Purse: $6,800,000
Winners Share: $1,224,000
FedEx Points to Winner: 500
When
Thursday-Friday
3-6 p.m. ET, Golf Channel
Saturday-Sunday
1-2:30 p.m., Golf Channel; 3-6 p.m., CBS
Biggest Storylines
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David Duval Takes Aim at Pebble Beach
David Duval, a former world No. 1, makes his 2015 debut.
Duval hasn’t won a tournament since the Open Championship in 2001, a year he also finished second in the Masters.
He made a masterful run in the 2009 U.S. Open to finish T2, but beyond that Duval has a brighter future in the booth than on the course. He has since signed with Golf Channel as an analyst to provide nuggets like this about future Ryder Cup captains.
"We need to bring in people who are closer to competitive days and closer in age to players who are going to be on the team,” he said on UK.Reuters.com.
In 2010, Duval finished T2 at this very tournament, finishing behind Johnson.
How Will Dustin Johnson Fare in Second Tournament Back?
Johnson made one of the shots of the week at Torrey Pines when he eagled from about 159 yards out on the par-four fourth. It was his first tournament back after a mysterious hiatus that have some reporting it was some sort of backdoor suspension.
Either way, Johnson returns to the course where he won in back-to-back years in 2009 and 2010. He finished T2 last year behind Jimmy Walker.
“It’s really close to being good,” Johnson told The New York Times at Torrey Pines. “I think that the last two days, I think normally I probably would be at least five or six under right now, instead of even par, but I’m happy with where it’s at. Just a little rusty, that’s all.”
He’ll be sharing the course with his future father-in-law, this being Gretzky, the greatest hockey player of all time.
Johnson missed the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open by shooting 74 and 70. That’s not terrible for his first tournament back off a six-month layoff, but expect Johnson to reach Saturday play given his run of success at Pebble Beach.
Welcome back, Jim Furyk
It’s been a long time since we last saw Furyk tee it up. He hasn’t played since the Ryder Cup, so it will be interesting to see how this 2003 U.S. Open winner fares in his first tournament of 2015.
It’s no secret that Furyk usually waits until the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am to make his debut. This is his M.O.
Furyk comes off a winless 2014 where he managed to be in the thick of tournaments but simply couldn’t close. Dating back to the Open Championship, Furyk had six top 10s in his final eight events.
He finished in the top 15 in all four majors and second in the Players Championship, the “major for the thumb” as it were.
Furyk is always one of those players who is frequently overlooked and given his consistent ball-striking (32nd on tour last year) and his low scoring average (third on tour last season), expect him to contend here and maybe win a big one in 2015.
The Favorites
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Jason Day
And the title of favorite to win every tournament Rory McIlroy doesn't enter goes to: Jason Day.
While fellow Aussie Adam Scott does whatever it is he’s doing at this time of year, Day has surged to be the best Australian player of the bunch (which includes Stuart Appleby and Geoff Ogilvy, solid players but no world beaters).
Day won a four-way playoff at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines and is the next great major-less player who may get one in 2015. The win bumped Scott out of the No. 4 spot making Day the highest ranked Aussie in the world.
Gary Van Sickle of Golf.com wrote, “Day has already shown that he has a big game and can play the big tracks. He’s got five top-four finishes in major championships, including a runner-up finish in the Masters and the U.S. Open. He’s aiming higher now.”
Day is just warming up. Pebble Beach will mark his third start of 2015 and he already has the win and a third place finish.
Jimmy Walker
Jimmy Walker has been in every tournament so far this year. Three cheers for late-bloomers.
Walker, 36, was a no-name before he won three tournaments a year ago and stood at No. 1 on the FedEx Cup points list for most of the season. Sadly, but maybe not, when you Google Jimmy Walker, this comes up.
But golfer Walker is like the Jeff Kent of the PGA Tour, a player who found his stride late. He wasn’t gifted with this obsessive American ideal of precocity, that if you’re not a superstar by the age of 21 you’re somehow a failure. This goes for all industries, not just golf.
A win for Walker is a win for the plodder, the ones committed to craft and the slow burn.
He won the Sony Open, finished second in the Tournament of Champions and up until Sunday’s 73 at Torrey Pines, was in striking distance of the Farmers Insurance Open.
And in 2015, Walker is again No. 1 in FedEx points and now No. 1 on the money list.
Brandt Snedeker
Brandt Snedeker is another golfer, much like Furyk and Walker, who is overlooked when it comes to the greater picture of golf. In the case of Snedeker and Furyk, they’ve won that $10 million mountain of cash for winning the FedEx Cup. Walker is close.
Snedeker also possess the 72-hole record in this event and won the tournament back in 2013.
Snedeker has had a steady start to his season. He missed the cut at La Quinta, finished T10 at TPC Scottsdale and T19 at Torrey Pines. Returning to the site of one of his biggest triumphs seems like a recipe for a guaranteed top 10, maybe more.
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The Dark Horses
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Dustin Johnson
Can Dustin Johnson swoop in after missing the cut at Torrey Pines in just his second tournament back from a layoff and win at Pebble Beach?
No, but he seems like a nice overlay if you’re a betting man or woman. Johnson won this event in 2009 and 2010, and anyone with that kind of confidence must be respected.
He’s hungry and doesn’t want to squander his talents. He’s 30 now, a father and engaged to Gretzky’s daughter Paulina.
“I’ll tell you this unequivocally,” said Gretzky on Golf.com. “It’s the first time I can see him say, ‘Gosh, I really miss it, and when I get back I want it to be something special.’”
Jim Furyk
If it weren’t his first tournament of the year, Furyk would be a favorite. Since it is his 2015 debut, Furyk get’s dark-horse status at Pebble Beach.
Furyk said in 2014 when he planned on making his season debut at Pebble Beach:
"I think everyone after 20 years on tour goes through a time where it's not that I don't want to play golf, I just didn't want to be grouchy. I wanted to have more fun. And I needed to manage my time when I was playing golf and when I was at home, and choose my schedule better.
"
One can surmise he hasn’t played competitively since the Ryder Cup for the same reasons. He has to start somewhere and with a relatively weak field watered down by celebrity amateurs, Furyk could sneak in for a top 10 to start the year.
Ryan Palmer
Ryan Palmer fired a final-round 66 at the Phoenix Open but finished second to Brooks Koepka. Were it not for a one-over par second round, Palmer likely would have won the tournament.
Palmer is No. 2 in in two categories on tour: scoring average (69.253) and driving distance (308.6).
Palmer is a three-time winner on tour, and he appears poised to get a couple this year. It's only a matter of time. Come the end of the year Palmer will be contending for the FedEx Cup like he was in 2014.
Predictions
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Winner: Jason Day
It’s incredibly hard to win back-to-back tournaments, but Day could be in an early-season zone. He’s got eyes on McIlroy, and what better field to win against than one weakened by the attendance of celebrities?
Day, Furyk and Jordan Spieth (who missed the cut at Torrey Pines) are the only players in the top 10 of OWGR in this tournament, and it’s unlikely Furyk is in winning form here.
Bounce-Back Performance: Jordan Spieth
Speaking of Spieth, he plays in his third event in a row, but he got some extra rest after not playing the weekend in the Farmers Insurance Open.
He earned T7 at the Phoenix Open two weeks ago, so Spieth should return to that form and possibly contend here.
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