Our roughie Andrew Novak led on the back nine at Torrey Pines last week, giving a great sight to backers, providing plenty of confidence heading into the Pebble Beach Pro-Am where all the stars are out to play.
Key Stats/Skill Set Required
- Strokes Gained: Putting
- Putting Average
- Strokes Gained: Approach
- GIR
- Ball Striking
- Bogey Avoidance
- Par 5 Scoring
- Proximity: 175-200 Yards
The Pebble Beach Pro-Am is essentially a putting competition with high value put on second strokes as players compete on two courses before finishing on Pebble Beach.
Hot putters win here and that usually comes on the back of elite iron play, what gets done off the tee is irrelevant.
The course setup is typically easy, as is usually the case in pro-ams.
Key Correlation Courses/Tournaments
- Torrey Pines
- Open Championship
BEST BET
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER
Scottie Scheffler makes his first start of 2025 after a Christmas Day incident capped off a dramatic 2024 for the World No.1 and he looks a super bet to win at one of the easiest setups on the PGA Tour.
Scheffler ranks first in Putting Average, Strokes Gained: Approach, Ball Striking and Par 5 Scoring, as well as second in Bogey Avoidance and third in GIR.
He finished seventh at the Open last year and debuted here in 2024 with a T-6 and I suspect he goes all the way in 2025.
BEST VALUE
JASON DAY
A terrible start cruelled Jason Day’s chances last week but he does his best work on the West Coast and is primed for a big tournament this week.
Day loves Pebble Beach with a Top 11 finish eight times in his last nine tournaments here.
He is in good form with seven Top 25 finishes in his last 10 starts.
The Open is the best guide here and finished Top 15 in the last two.
Ranks eighth in Putting Average and ninth in Strokes Gained: Putting.
MAX GREYSERMAN
One of the most talented young players on Tour, Max Greyserman is nearing a win so we are sticking fat.
He is an elite level putter, ranking second in Strokes Gained: Putting and 10th in Putting Average.
He also ranks 11th in Par 5 Scoring and taking advantage of the long holes is critical here. Greyserman is in very good form with three Top 7 finishes in his last five starts.
Big price on him this week.
BEST ROUGHIES
THOMAS DETRY
Belgian non-winner who has not tasted victory since the Challenge Tour so his chances of victory can rightly be questioned but this is a nice setup and he can definitely repeat his performance last year where he finished T-4 here.
He has started the season well with two Top 15 finishes and his form at the correlation tournaments is good with Top 20 finishes at the last two Farmers Insurance and the 2023 Open Championship.
A good putter, he should be around the top of the leaderboard.
KEVIN YU
A PGA Tour winner last year, Kevin Yu continues to be underrated.
Ranks seventh in Par 5 Scoring, 10th in GIR and 14th in Ball Striking.
Finished sixth at the 2024 Farmers Insurance and his T-7 here in 2023 suggests he is fond of the course.
TOP ENGLISH
AARON RAI
Rai is one of the best iron player in the world, ranking sixth in Bogey Avoidance, seventh in Strokes Gained: Approach and ninth in GIR.
Looks huge value in this five-man field.
TOP KOREAN
TOM KIM
Four Koreans line up here and Tom Kim looks the pick, finished second in two of his last five starts.
