AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am Each-Way Tips: Taylor to make it two

Dave Tindall
30 January 2023
4:00 min read

Nick Taylor can triumph at Pebble Beach again

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The PGA Tour stays in California where Nick Taylor can make his mark again at famed Pebble Beach, says Dave Tindall...

Main Bet: Nick Taylor each-way @ 51.050/1

The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am is one of those iconic weeks on the PGA Tour although the star power is provided more by the celebrities this year.

Jordan Spieth, Matt Fitzpatrick and Viktor Hovland are a glamorous front three but the fact that they're all single figure prices tells us that it thins out quickly after that.

Maverick McNealy, bags of promise but still to win on the PGA Tour, is fourth favourite at 14/1.

For the third week running, more than one course is in use and this year we're back to the established trio of Pebble Beach (par 72, 6,972 yards), Spyglass (par 72, 7,041 yards) and Monterey Peninsula (par 71, 6,957 yards).

With celebs to cater for - this year's bunch includes Welsh football legend Gareth Bale - the set-ups are easy and with breezes forecast to be modest, scoring should be low.

In fact, it's fair to make a guess at the winning number given that the last four are -19 (Tom Hoge), -18 (Daniel Berger), -19 (Nick Taylor) and -19 (Phil Mickelson).

There's no Mickelson this year of course and perhaps the five-time winner's recent tweets hint at a man missing one of his very favourite weeks of the year.

One notable feature of the champions' roll-call is just how many American winners there are. Scroll down from 2022 to 1966 and you'll find just three non-US victors. Even 15 of the last 18 runners-up were Americans.

I'll go for two home players in my staking plan but will lead off with one of those who has broken the US domination - Nick Taylor.

The Canadian scored a hugely impressive four-shot victory here in 2020, holding off Mickelson down the stretch and pulling away.

It was a surprise but not a massive one. He'd also been 10th in 2017, 28th in 2019 and made the top 45 in the 2019 US Open at Pebble.

Taylor was 39th when defending in 2021 and shot 69-70-69-69 last year to post 14th. Clearly, his game is a great fit for Pebble.

Looking at his form this season also points to another big week on the Monterey Peninsula.

Taylor was sixth in the Fortinet at Silverado (another short course in California with Poa Annua on the greens), and seventh at the recent Sony Open (short and coastal).

Course form really does count for plenty in this event so Taylor gets the nod at 50s.

Next Best: Taylor Moore each-way @ 51.050/1

Taylor Moore enjoyed a fine rookie campaign, advancing to the second leg of the Playoffs and eventually being ranked 67th in the final FedEx Cup standings.

He's been a bit hit-and-miss so far in 2022/23 and four missed cuts in nine starts hint at a difficult second season although in those early exits he only once shot higher than 72.

As for the good stuff, he's posted a 12th at the ZOZO Championship and top 25s at both the Sanderson Farms Championship and the CJ Cup.

And after opening the calendar year with a missed cut (68-69-71) in The American Express, the 29-year-old logged his best result of the season with tied 11th in last week's Farmers Insurance Open.

Although a born-and-bred Texan, that result at Torrey Pines confirmed a liking for West Coast events played on Poa Annua grass.

It added to a 21st at Riviera last year (three 69s and a 70) and, most pertinently, a tied 16th here at Pebble Beach on his tournament debut 12 months ago.

Moore is a good putter, who performs wells on Poa Annua greens. Last year he ranked 12th for SG: Putting in this event while he was also in the top 20 in that category at Riviera a couple of weeks later.

The final useful nugget is that Moore won the team event at Pebble last year alongside Kyle Adams (President of RKA Investments LLC, apparently).

It's already a special place for lots of golfers in the field but landing that prize in 2022 shows that, for Moore, Pebble can be a place for material gains as well as somewhere to soak in the pretty views.

Back him at 50/1.

Final Bet: Kevin Streelman each-way @ 101.0100/1

Backing veterans with strong history at Pebble Beach has been a profitable strategy down the years.

And that's why I'll press the 'bet' button on Kevin Streelman.

Looking at the American's event form shows a ninth in 2012 and then a superb run of six straight top 20s from 2016-2021. His finishes: 17-14-6-7-2-13.

"What I love about playing this course is you can only take it a shot at a time," Streelman said of Pebble in 2020.

"Every shot is so important you have to get the right angle, you have to hit the right distance, and you can't get over the green, you can't have that downhill putt, like you're always thinking about the shot in front of you and it almost keeps you from getting too far ahead of yourself."

Pebble on a Sunday has been a particular strong suit of his. Streelman has shot in the 60s in each of his last seven closers at Pebble Beach and twice he's walked off with the team prize.

As for form this season, he had back-to-back top 25s at the Sanderson Farms and the Shriners in Las Vegas while in November's RSM Classic three starts ago, Streelman was sixth after 54 holes before falling away.

No-one really expected him to challenge at Torrey Pines last week given his record of one top 25 in 10 previous appearances but playing all four rounds at the Farmers could be a useful springboard.

Torrey is too long for him but this week's courses play far more into Streelman's hands and he's worth a punt at a three-figure price.

Staked: £480
Returned: £291.5
P/L: -£188.5

Previous:
2021/2022 P/L: -£315.35
2020/2021 P/L: +£1475.87
2019/2020 P/L: +£13.83
2018/2019 P/L: -£338.25
2017/2018 P/L: +£362.84
2016/2017 P/L: +£1179.89

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