Pebble Beach Pro-Am - Golf News, Tips And Picks

Pebble Beach Pro-Am
By Tom Brew
Posted: 11:00 am PDT 2007-02-07

The PGA Tour's annual visit to Pebble Beach used to be so special. It was one of those winter events that you simply couldn't miss through the years, whether you were a no-name or if your name was Nicklaus, a three-time winner, or Palmer, who never won.

Tiger Woods isn't here this week, missing the event for the fourth straight year. It's too bad. Some of the best visions of Pebble Beach were of Woods lapping the field in the 2000 U.S. Open.

But Pebble Beach in February is different. The weather's never very good, the greens are bumpy and spongy, rare by tour standards, and the pro-am celebrity format spread out over three courses is oftentimes a pain to deal with.

But as we've said most weeks when Tiger isn't around, this is a chance for someone else to step up and win an event. With Tiger's winning streak still at seven, the others rarely have a chance when he's around. This is the time to make hay.

It's still a good tournament. It's still Pebble Beach, one of the greatest courses in the world.

It'll still be fun, Tiger be damned.

"It's one of the icon events," said Paul Goydos, who won earlier this year at the Sony in Hawaii. "Take away the majors and this is probably the highest-rating (among players) of any event on the PGA Tour. You are playing Pebble Beach.

"It's royalty when it comes to golf, this golf course and this property. It's as good an event as we play all year."

Even without Tiger, attendance has continued to soar at this event. Last year's attendance (about 149,000) was a record. The quality of the pro field is on a gradual upswing. Nine of the world's current Top 25 players will tee it up Thursday, and five of the top 10, respectable figures for a non-major, especially considering that more and more of the top golfers are non-Americans playing in Europe.

The star power this week comes from Phil Mickelson, John Daly, Vijay Singh and Jim Furyk. Ireland's Padraig Harrington is playing here for the first time as well.

Luke Donald and Mike Weir are sure to be factors also.

It's a different kind of week, with all the celebrities around and rounds that can stretch on forever. Donald knows the approach, though.

"It takes a different kind of mental attitude this week than most weeks, just because it is the pro-am format," said Donald, who's eighth in the world "Rounds can be quite slow, you have to be quite patient. The greens are pretty tricky, they can be a little bobbly at times, you really have to be patient, mentally.

"It is testing, you know. It's not pristine conditions. ... So it does take a little bit of extra mental strength just to realize that you are not going to make (every putt). But at the same time, it's a course where I think shot-making is very important. You know, you are not just getting up there and hitting the ball far and going about it that way, you have to think your way around, especially Pebble."

At WagerWeb.com, it's Vijay Singh who's the favorite at +700 to win, with Furyk at +900 and Mickelson at +1000. Of the big names, I like Furyk the best at a course that suits him well. Mickelson isn't worth wasting money on right now. He hasn't shown us anything yet this year, including missing the cut last week at Scottsdale, a course he usually tears up. Maybe he's just not into this season yet. We'll have to see. Usually he fares much better in the West Coast events than he does the Florida tour, but so far he has done nothing to impress me.

Some names I do like are Donald (+1400) and Weir (+2000). Weir has had a second and third here the past two years, and the Canadian should thrive in this rotten weather that's expected for much of the weekend.

EUROPEAN TOUR

Michael Campbell, Darren Clarke, Lee Westwood and Thomas Bjorn headline the field at this week's European Tour event in Malaysia.

Campbell has had some nice moments so far this winter, and he's a good buy at 20 to 1 to win. Keep an eye on him.

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