Golf Events / Tareq Quiroz / 06 February 2008 /

Tareq Quiroz runs the rule over a large field at the Pebble Beach AT&T Pro-Am which gets underway tomorrow

Pebble Beach has been the venue of some of the most memorable scenes in golf history. It has an almost magical feel to it; one that draws the top players back there year after year in very much the same way St. Andrews does. This weeks AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am has attracted another high class field, all of whom will be desperate to get their name on a piece of Pebble Beach history.

As is now the norm with pro-ams, the tournament is played over three different courses for ease of moving the vast field around. They will rotate around the three courses for the first three days before the cut is made and the remaining players will battle it out over at Pebble Beach. The use of different courses demands that you make pre-tournament picks. Trading through the first three rounds can be hazardous as you can never be sure how easy one course is playing in comparison to the others.

Deserved market leader this week is Phil Mickelson, he is a man in form who just loves this event. A comfortable winner last year Phil has also won the event twice previously and is most certainly the man to beat this week. However, he won't be my pick this week as I feel that he will be suffering a slight hangover from last weeks close call at the FBR Open where he really must have thought he had it won at one stage.

Last week's FBR Open was an amazing event and I feel that anyone involved in the shake-up at the end will struggle to repeat that form this week. My main selection this week is a guy who was never quite near enough to challenge last week but showed he is in good form. Brandt Snedeker is a relatively new name on the PGA Tour but he already has a win to his name and is going to be a major contender in the years to come. A trait that is already apparent in Snedeker's form is that he has a tendency to perform well on the birdie courses. As is the case with all pro-ams, the courses at Pebble Beach are set up to play easy and you can expect a winning score of around eighteen under par. This will play right into the Brandt's hands and I am sure he will tear these courses up. He is currently available at generous odds of [38], which will surely seem even better come Sunday afternoon.

I hate to say it but looking around the rest of the field I cannot get away from a certain Davis Love III. I really am not a Davis fan so it pains me to tip him up but he definitely has the credentials to go well at a big price. He had a poor year last year but his AT&T result was his best and the rumours coming out of his camp are that he is back in really good shape and could surprise this week. A two time winner here he certainly demands a wager at current odds of around [85.0].

My final selection of the week is Brett Rumford. The Australian enjoyed a successful year on the European Tour last season before coming second in the PGA Tour qualifying event. Having got his card I think he will go well from time to time this year and with one top ten finish already to his name I expect him to follow-up with a decent result this week. He is worth a saver bet in the Winner market at [280.0] and is certainly worth following in the Top Ten Finish market where you can get at around [18.5].

When I see players like Brett Rumford get onto the PGA Tour I ask myself why. Is it because it's the best tour? Is it because there is more money available? Is it because he wants a new challenge? I am really not sure what the answer is for today's professional golfer. Stenson tried it last year but has now returned to the European Tour and that has been the case for most of Europe's top players. If you were a top golfer and had the choice, where would you play? I of course fancy myself as a something of a globe trotter, winning tournaments in all corners of the World. Well that rules out the PGA Tour then!

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