Yahoo Contest Preview- AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am

This week the PGA Tour takes us to legendary Pebble Beach for the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. The field consists of 156 professionals and 156 amateurs. One professional is paired with one amateur. Each day, 52 2-man teams will play on one of the three courses. Then on the final day, those professionals and pro-amateur teams making the 54-hole cut will play on the Pebble Beach Golf Links. The cut takes place at 54 holes with the low 60 scorers plus any ties.

The three courses measurements are:

1. Pebble Beach Golf Links measures 6,816 yards, par 72
2. Spyglass Hill Golf Course is 6,953 yards long and is a par 72
3. Monterey Peninsula Country Club Shore course measures 6,867 and is par 71

For our recommendations of players to choose in each grouping on Yahoo, become a premium member.

Each of the three courses feature four par 5s.  In terms of course difficulty, there’s very little differentiation between the three courses. Monterey Peninsula has generally played the easiest relative to Par while Spyglass has remained the toughest. The difference isn’t even close to as great as Torrey Pines North and Torrey Pines South course so juggling between golfers on certain days is not necessary.

A-List

Ryan Palmer & Jim Furyk – There are not many players eligible in the Yahoo! A-List this week and these are the clear cut selections. Outside of Jimmy Walker, probably the next hottest golfer going right now in the field is Ryan Palmer. In his last three outings he was T17 at the Sony Open, T10 at the Humana Challenge (which should have been better), and T2 at the WM Phoenix Open. In the fall he only played two events and had a T22 at the WGC HSBC and T8 at the BMW Masters on the European Tour. Ranking in the Top 10 in several statistical categories including scoring average, driving distance, and total Strokes Gained. The only thing Palmer does not have going for him this week is his track record in this tournament. Last year he took 32nd, missed the cut in 2013, 29th in 2012, 70th in 2010, and missed the cut in 2009 and 2008. We think Palmer has improved so much over the last year that we are going to recommend Palmer despite is tournament history. He ranks 17th in Par 5 scoring and 9th in Par 5 Birdie or Better %. Palmer should be good for a Top 10 and might have a chance to win it. We are a little hesitant to recommend Furyk after such a long layoff, but he is so far and away the best option over the others we are going to go with him.

A-List Others: Noh & J.B. Holmes

 

B-List

Jordan Spieth & Jimmy Walker – – Last week we listed Jimmy as one of Top Stud Plays and he paid off for us yet again with a T7. He is one of the most dominant players on tour right now and absolutely owns the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Walker won this tournament last year, took third the year before, and 9th the two years prior to that. His entire game is sharp as he ranks 23rd in greens in regulation, 13th in strokes gained Tee-To-Green, 17th in Par 5 scoring, 15th in Par 5 Birdie or Better %, and 5th in Total Strokes Gained. We thought Spieth was going to start tearing it up after surging up the leaderboard with a 65 on the final day at the WM Phoenix Open. Unfortunately, Spieth’s momentum disappeared in Phoenix faster than Seahawks fans hopes at the 2 yard line. Spieth completely missed the cut at the Farmers Open which shocked everybody. The last two years however, Spieth has followed up his Farmers Insurance performance with a better one at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (in 2013 missed the cut at the Farmers and placed 22nd at Pebble Beach and last year took 19th at Farmers and 4th at Pebble Beach). We believe Spieth will get to Pebble Beach a couple days earlier than expected and get the quirks ironed out and will be back in the Top 10 this week.

B-List Others: Jason Day, Ian Poulter, Graham Delaet

 

C-List

Patrick Reed & Kevin Na – Patrick Reed is the best player in this group and is playing well lately. Reed finished 13th last year and 7th in 2013 at Pebble. Kevin Na has been all over the board this year so far with a T26 at the WM Phoenix Open, T48 at the Humana Challenge, T64 at the Sony Open, T26 at the Nedbank on the European Tour, T20 at the WGC HSBC, and T2 at the CIMB classic. Na is not long off the tee ranking 204th in driving distance, but at Pebble, you do not need to be long. Na has played really well here the last three years taking 4th last year, 22nd in 2013, and 5th in 2012. If instead of one of these two you wanted to go with a long shot, we would recommend Colt Knost who is playing extremely well lately with a T17 at the Farmers, T10 at Humana, and T17 at the Sony Open.

C-List Others: Zac Blair, Sean O‘Hair

Good luck to all of you this week. Remember, be sure to let us know of your successes via email or Twitter. There may just be a t-shirt in it for you.