Pebble Beach
This week the PGA Tour heads to Pebble Beach for the second elevated event of the 2024 season, but before we head to Pebble Beach for the AT&T Pro-am things have been unraveling in the golf world this past week. First and foremost Jon Rahm’s LIV team has been completed and announced featuring the newest signee Tyrell Hatton. This past week Hatton joined LIV for a $50 million contract. In the past Hatton has made it clear he had no plans of joining LIV so this is either a perfect case of hypocrisy or there is information that these players know that the rest of us don’t. Personally, I believe Jon Rahm knows everything that is going to happen. Rahm knows that a merger is imminent, which would ultimately allow LIV players to return to the PGA Tour. I think within the next month a new deal will be reached which will allow players to play on both tours. Now in the end this is all speculation but it is rather odd how quickly the tune of these players changes. Speaking of changing tunes, Rory McIlroy has drastically changed his tune, he recently stated that players who left for LIV shouldn’t receive punishment upon their return to the PGAT via a merger. Rory’s change of tune was the big one for me. If there was a guy who I believed would stand firm it would be him, but in the end, even the top players will ultimately bend for money. With a merger looming overhead, it should be very interesting to see the reactions of players on both sides of the coin, will the loyalists of the PGAT welcome the defectors back or will they cast them the cold shoulder. Regardless, division among players and the higher ups seems probable.
Despite all this, the PGAT and LIV are continuing on, business as usual. This week’s event should provide another fantastic showing of golf. Personally, I've never been a huge fan of the pro-am but this year, the pro-am portion has been shortened to two rounds. Golfers and fans also get yet another chance to witness the Pebble Beach and SpyGlass Hill in all its glory. Among the changes in the pro-am portion, this event continues the new series of limited field, elevated events on the PGAT. These events feature an 80 man field, these events are also no cut events as well. This aspect of these events is where the tour really messed up. No cut events are just backwards in my opinion. There is zero incentive because everyone gets paid no matter what. The fan experience is also tainted with no cut as well, fans are robbed of the opportunity to watch players chase down a cut line. No cut events also just take a lot of the excitement away, coupling all that with this week’s celebrity pro-am portion of the event, I believe this will be a very average week. There will be the games top players, at least those that are left on the PGAT including Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, Jordan Spieth, Viktor Hovland, Max Homa, and Tony Finau. Although it's a limited field, it's still featuring a lot of top players and the game's rising stars including last year’s PGAT Rookie of the Year, Eric Cole and recently amateur, no professional winner Nick Dunlap. This week is going to be tough across the board, both golf courses provide their unique challenges, coupled with the horrible weather the players will be faced with this week Pebble and Spyglass will be extremely daunting. (Mike)
My interest in professional golf is shrinking by the week. As professional golf becomes more fractured by the week, it has been so easy to tune into other things or forget about that week’s event altogether. When more of the world’s best golfers are not in the fields it is hard to get invested. Yes, there are great young players on Tour and there are some great stories we have already seen, but there is no Cam Smith, Jon Rahm, or even a Tyrell Hatton out there yet. Those guys bring something different to the game and to the tournaments they play in. It is a shame that it has been reduced to a few times a year where we get to truly see the best against the best.
This is the first look we get at the invite only, no cut events that will be littered throughout the Tour season. I am interested to see how things go. I understand the Tour had very limited options to make players happy, but a no cut event is just so boring as a fan and yet another reason why my interest in professional golf is declining. I may eat my words on this format next week, but let’s see how it plays out. (Tyler)
Picks of the week:
With that being said this is Tony Finau’s week. I have a feeling he’s going to have his real breakout year this year. He’s coming off a very solid 2023 and I think his game is at the point where he could potentially win a major championship. However, there is one part of his game that has been the reason he couldn’t break through and win a major and that’s putting. If Tony can putt well this week and this year entirely I believe he’s positioned to have the best year of his career thus far. The greens at Pebble Beach and Spyglass shall provide a nice test for Finau and the rest of the field. My winning pick is Tony Finau at 12 under this week, but don’t count out fan favorite Jordan Spieth to make a run at it. (Mike)
My pick to win this week is Tony Finau. Mike and I agree that Tony is due for a big win and his game is trending in the right direction. I expect a big time name to win with the strongest field this event has ever had and Tony is prime to make a run this weekend.
My dark horse to win this week is Keith Mitchell. He was one of the last guys in the field, but this is a tournament he has had success in before. Granted, the field was not as strong, but he is a strong driver of the ball and that is paramount to success at Pebble. I think Keith will be hovering around a top 10, but I really think a tournament like this will be won by one of the big dawgs still on Tour. (Tyler)