• Hot putters set to shine at Pebble

• Great event for long-shots

• Americans have a brilliant record

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What happened last week? Reed and Gotterup both win again

Trailing the overnight leader, Patrick Reed, by four with 18 to play, Oliver Lindell, was a 25/126.00 shot to win the Qatar Masters on Sunday morning, but he looked the most likely victor when he moved two clear of the American with a lengthy birdie on the par four 11^th.

The 27-year-old Finn hit a low of 1.9620/21 but it wasn't long before odds-on backers knew they'd done their dough.

Bogeys at 12 and 13 were followed by a double drop on 15 and Reed reassumed control with three birdies in four holes after the turn.

Calum Hill, who had traded at as short as 1.182/11 before losing in extra time in Bahrain the week before, rallied form off the pace to finish second but Reed cruised to his second win in three starts by two strokes.

Having drifted to 18.535/2, Reed had hardened up to 16.015/1 before the off and I'm not surprised.

Following a comfortable win in the Dubai Desert Classic and a playoff defeat in Bahrain, he made for a very straightforward selection and although I layed a bit of my pre-tournament wager back in running at 1.351/3 on Sunday, it was still a decent result.

Reed is only the third man to win the Qatar Masters wire-to-wire but he's the seventh major winner to win in Doha and he's the sixth man to win at both Doha and the Emirates -the host course of the Dubai Desert Classic.

Reed's brilliance resulted in a largely dram-free finale in Qatar, but it was a very different story on the PGA Tour where the two-time event winner, Hideki Matsuyama was matched at as low as 1.041/25 to win the Phoenix Open for a third time before he lost in a playoff to the recent Sony Open winner, Chris Gotterup.

Although his tee game had been poor all week, Matsuyama, who had led after rounds two and three, looked like he was going to win with ease after he'd tapped in for birdie at the par five 15^th but he failed to birdie the drivable par four 17^th before bogeying the last.

It was a painful finish for the Japanese, and it was nasty to see him put off by the crowd when putting for par at 18 and again at the first playoff hole.

Having had to back off his drive thanks to the sound of someone dropping a chair, he reset himself before driving into the water and that was the end of that.

Gotterup, who won the first event of the year, the Sony Open, at odds of 90.089/1, was a 60.059/1 chance before the off in Phoenix and he was a 90.089/1 chance before round four when trailing by four but after a slow start, he hit a high of 940.0939/1 in-running on Sunday, before an incredible finish that saw him birdie five of the last six holes.

AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am Tournament History

Originally named the Bing Crosby National Pro-Amateur and first staged in 1937 the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am has been in existence for 89 years. The Crosby name was dropped from the title in 1985, eight years after Bing's death and a year before long-time sponsors, AT&T, began their association.

It's not always been a particularly strong event, but the tournament was elevated to Signature Event status in 2024 and as a result, there was a change to the format.

The AT&T Pebble Beach used to be staged over three courses in rotation - Spyglass Hill, Monterey Peninsula and the host course, Pebble Beach.

There would be a cut on Saturday night and the top 60 and ties would fight out the finish at Pebble Beach on Sunday but as has been the case in each of the last two years, we're only using two courses this year - Spyglass and Pebble.

With no cut, the limited field of 80 pros and 80 amateurs will play the two courses in rotation on Thursday and Friday with the event concluding at Pebble over the weekend.

Course Details

Pebble Beach (host course), par 72, 6972 yards, stroke average in 2025 - 70.1
Spyglass Hill par 72, 7041 yards, stroke average in 2025 - 69.99

The host course, Pebble Beach, needs no introduction to most keen golf fans. This iconic seaside links has hosted the US Open six times and the PGA Championship once. It isn't a long course and it's not a tough driving test either. The fairways are largely generous, and the course's defence is its small greens, and of course, the weather.

The wind blew so hard in 2024 that the event was reduced to 54 holes but not before Wyndham Clark hit a 12-under-par 60 in round three to break the course record.

Spyglass differs from Pebble in that it's largely tree-lined.

The greens at both courses are Poa annua, as they were at Torrey Pines a fortnight ago, and given how windy it can get here, they're usually set at a pedestrian (by PGA Tour standards) 12 feet on the Stimpmeter.

Weather Forecast

TV Coverage

Live on Sky Sports all four days, starting at 16:45 UK time.

Last 10 Winners with Pre-event Exchange Prices

2025 - Rory McIlroy -21 17.016/1
2024 - Wyndham Clark -17 100.099/1 (54 holes)
2023 - Justin Rose -18 44.043/1
2022 - Tom Hoge -19 75.074/1
2021 - Daniel Berger -18 17.016/1
2020 - Nick Taylor -19 210.0209/1
2019 - Phil Mickelson -19 36.035/1
2018 - Ted Potter Jr -17 850.0849/1
2017 - Jordan Spieth -19 10.09/1
2016 - Vaughn Taylor -17 960.0959/1 

What Will it Take to Win the AT&T?

The 2024 winner, Clark, ranked third for Driving Distance and Rory ranked first last year but historically, length off the tee hasn't been vital and neither has accuracy.

Rory ranked only 34^th for Driving Accuracy and the 18 event winners before him had an average DD ranking of 33.92 and an average Driving Accuracy ranking of 39.05.

The last three winners have only ranked 47^th, 34^th and 24^th for Greens In Regulation but accurate approach play has been important in this event for a very long time and the placed players in recent years have suggested it still is.

Lucas Glover, who finished third behind Rory, topped the GIR stats, he top six in the GIR rankings all finished inside the top 14 and ties two years ago and Brandon Wu, who finished tied for second three years ago, topped the GIR rankings.

The last three winners have pushed the averages up but the average GIR ranking for the 16 winners prior to that was just 5.31.

The last three winners have definitely gone against the grain given 14 of the last 20 winners have ranked inside the top-nine for greens hit.

The 2021 winner, Daniel Berger, ranked only 18^th for Strokes Gained Putting and 29^th for Putting Average which is as poor as it gets here.

Other than Berger, over the last 20 years the worst Putting Average ranking of any other winner had been 16th (Brandt Snedeker in 2016 and Dustin Johnson in 2009).

Rory only ranked 15^th last year but he ranked seventh for SG: Putting and the three winners before him all putted nicely.

The 2002 winner, Tom Hoge, ranked second for PA and third for SG: Putting, Justin Rose ranked third and 14^th for those two stats a year later, and Clark topped them both in 2024.

Hot putters, and those that are familiar with Poa annua, are the players to concentrate on.

Is There an Angle In?

It stands to reason that given Pebble Beach is a links-style course and that it's perched alongside the ocean, that Open Championship form stands up well here.

When taking the title 12 months ago, Rory became the fourth different Open Champion to win the AT&T this century. The five-time winner, Phil Mickelson, is also an Open champion and something of a links specialist and a number of recent winners have a cracking record in the world's oldest Major Championship.

Rose has never won the Open, but he famously finished fourth as an amateur in 2998 and he's twice finished second (in 2018 and 2024), and he also won the Scottish Open at Royal Aberdeen 12 years ago so he's very much a links specialist.

Wind is nearly always a factor here so players that play well in blustery conditions also prosper.

Is There an Identikit Winner?

With the likes of Rory, Tiger Woods, Davis Love III, Vijay Singh, Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Jimmy Walker, Brandt Snedeker and Jordan Spieth all winning here this century when well fancied, we've seen plenty of winning favourites, but this is still a great event for longshots.

The 2024 winner, Clark, was matched at as high as 160.0159/1 before the off, Nick Taylor was a 210.0209/1 chance six years ago and two of the last 10 winners have been matched at 1000.0999/1 before the off.

Although two of the last three winners have been British, the home contingent has a very good record and when Rose took the title three years ago, he was just the fifth overseas winner in the event's entire history.

Course experience counts

Although he finished ninth in the US Open at Pebble in 2019, Rory had event form figures reading MC-MC-66 and Clark's numbers weren't much better, reading MC-18-MC, but those two go against the grain here.

The various longshot winners over the last 10 years all had bits of form in the event and 13 men have won the tournament more than once. And Spieth arguably should have made it 14 four years ago when he was matched at a low of 1.331/3 on the back nine on Sunday. 

Winner's Position and Exchange Price Pre-Round Four

2025 - Rory McIrloy - T2nd - trailing by one 3.4549/20
2024 - Wyndham Clark - T23rd - trailing by six 320.0319/1*
2023 - Justin Rose led by a stroke 3.211/5
2022 - Tom Hoge - tied for the lead 6.611/2
2021 - Daniel Berger - T2nd - trailing by two 7.413/2
2020 - Nick Taylor led by a stroke 2.915/8
2019 - Phil Mickelson solo 2^nd - trailing by three 6.611/2
2018 - Ted Potter Jr - tied for the lead 14.013/1
2017 - Jordan Spieth led by six strokes 1.141/7
2016 - Vaughn Taylor - T9th - trailing by six 200.0199/1 

* Position after 36 holes of 54-hole event

In-Play Tactics

We'll never know whether Clark would have been able to kick on a get the job done if the fourth round had been played two years ago but we've seen plenty of off the pace winners regardless.

In addition to Vaughn Taylor, who was a 200.0199/1 chance when he trailed by six through 54 holes 10 years ago, we've also seen Tiger Woods win from five strokes adrift, Phil Mickelson six, and in 2001, Davis Love III won from seven back but like many a tournament played on a links course, if the weather is kind, being up with the pace is very often the place to be.

The last two US Open winners at Pebble, Gary Woodland and Graeme McDowell, were both in front at halfway and no more than three off the lead after round one, and Tiger Woods famously powered to a wire-to-wire 15-stroke victory here in the 2000 US Open.

Phil Mickelson (twice), Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth and Nick Taylor have all won this event wire-to-wire in the last 20 years, and 16 of the last 20 winners have all been within three strokes of the lead after the first round.

Curiously, there has only been one playoff here in the last 30 years.

Scheffler and Straka chanced before the off

Scottie Scheffler was all out of sorts last Thursday, shooting a two-over-par 73 to trail the first round leader, Gotterup, by 10 strokes, but he fought back strongly after that, eventually missing out on the playoff by a solitary stroke and I'm more than happy to back him again this week at 4.47/2.

I prefer to play on the Betfair Exchange so I can trade some back with ease in-running but he's also available to back on the Sportsbook at 10/34.33 in the Win Only market.

Now an Open champion, Scheffler clearly loves links golf, and he has event form figures reading MC-6-9.

Once again, his odds don't come close to reflecting his remarkable strike rate so he's a very obvious play.

In addition to backing the world number one, I've had a small bet on the prolific Austrian, Sepp Straka, who won twice on the PGA Tour last year.

Straka has started 2026 slowly, missing the cut when defending his American Express title before finishing 18^th last week in Phoenix but that was as close to th elead as he was all week after a 71 in round one.

Straka, who finished second in the Open Championship in 2023, led this event by three at halfway and by a stroke with 18 to play last year before a 72 to on Sunday saw him slip to seventh but that was his first start after he'd won the American Express so it wasn't a surprise to see him run out of steam.

He'll need to putt better than he has in his first two outings but he's being a little dismissed by the market at odds in excess of 66/167.00.

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