AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am

Well, last week's finish to The Waste Management Open was really fun to watch. Brooks Koepka taking charge, fires a final round 65 to win the Waste Management. Not only did he win the “People’s Open” he did it in the most dramatic fashion. Brooks sealed the deal when he chipped in on 17 for eagle to take a 2 shot lead over the rest of the field. Not only was chipping in from the very awkward angle he had, but doing it at the most crucial times is just beyond clutch in my book. This win for Brooks was not only big for his career but it meant even more to his mental health. Brooks had been battling injuries for well over a year now. He feared his injured knee would never feel the same again and it terrified him and brought him to some pretty low places. Any golfer or athlete for that matter knows and understands not only the physical pain, but the emotional pain as well. This win for Brooks got his mind back and put his confidence on a new level. Never been the biggest Brooks fan, but I am happy to see he conquered his demons and prevailed. However, the golf world was lit on fire way before Brook’s win.

My personal favorite Jordan Spieth lit up the golf course the first three rounds. Now as you all know Jordan has seen his fair share of struggles as of late. It seemed that all parts of his game were suffering but Jordan remained extremely confident in himself. Well folks I truly believe he is back and he's here to stay. Spieth dazzled the golf world on Saturday when he fired a sizzling 10 under par 61. Its been quite sometime Jordan went that low and was in contention to win a golf tournament. However while Jordan played extremely well for 3 days he fizzled out on Sunday finishing with a 1 over par 72. This dropped him back to 17 under T-4. Even though he failed to close out on Sunday Jordan has nothing to be upset about. His game was in a very dark place for a long time and he's finally coming out of that painful slump. Now we are heading across the pond to talk about yet another Dustin Johnson win.

Dustin Johnson has won again, to nobody’s surprise. This week DJ won the European Tour’s Saudi International in Saudi Arabia. DJ closed out the week with a 2 under final round 70 to win by 2 at 15 under par over Tony Finau and Justin Rose. This is DJ’s 9th European Tour title. This is going to be the new norm for the next few years. DJ is going to win a whole lot. Expect at least 2-3 more wins plus at least 1 major. Unfortunately those wins will have to wait because DJ just withdrew from the AT&T Pro-Am and decided to head home for some time off. The one good thing about being World Number 1 is you get into any event you want and your private jet can take you anywhere you want. On to the Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

This week the tour heads back out to California for the Pebble Pro-am, however this year due to Covid-19 there will be no amateurs in the field playing alongside the pros. Although it does put a damper on the event, I'm sure nobody was really surprised about the decision. Nonetheless this week will still prove to be an incredible week of golf. Pebble Beach is such a premier track and being able to see it on TV is just spectacular. The views are always good, but the field this year is even better. This weeks fans can watch Jason Day, Daniel Berger, Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Max Homa, Patrick Cantlay, and young star Will Zalatoris. The field this week is flooded with young stars trying to make a name for themselves, expect a first time tour winner to take home the trophy.  (Mike)

I wrote a few weeks ago about Dustin Johnson being one of the greatest of all time. I am very confident in that now. He is trending towards a bunch more wins before his career is over. There are simply not many golfers that on their best day could beat DJ on his best day. He probably will not have the career achievements that other golfers have, but outside of Tiger I am not sure there are many golfers I am betting on against DJ. I think we really will see something historic this season from him if he stays healthy. For such a difficult game, he sure makes it look so easy.

Last week with fans was incredible. Even though there were not as many fans as usual at The Waste Management, the crowd was still heard. It was great to see Brooks hit a tournament winning shot on 17 and be bombarded with cheers from the gallery. Like all sports, golf is more electric when there are fans there. Hopefully more events going forward can have some fans so we get mini crowd roars in the tournaments biggest moments. (Tyler)

Pick’s of the Week:

Mike: Once again we are back to my favorite part of the blog, the picks of the week. Last week my picks were okay, Webb and JT still made it competitive but simply didn't have their “A” games this week. This week I'm going with Patrick Cantlay. I think this guy is so good, and i’ve been confused as to why this guy hasn’t won at least 10 times already. Nevertheless Cantlay has already won this year and notched himself 3 top 10’s in just 7 events. 

My notable to miss this cut this week is Rickie Fowler. As of late I've seen nothing from Rickie that breeds strong positive play. He's in a slump, a major one at that. Rickie has played in 9 events this year, with zero top 10’s and missing half those cuts. What has really hurt Rickier is his scrambling numbers, he's only getting up and down for par or better 50% of the time when he misses the green. That ranks him 241st on tour. That is by far one of the most important stats on tour it turns a 72 in a 69 very quickly. The ability to scramble well not only helps you make cuts but that is how you win down the wire. Rickie will find his game and catch his stride again, these things just take time, but for now don’t bet on Rickie. 

Lastly my underdog pick goes to Will Zalatoris. I'm going to keep picking this kid until he wins. I think he is one of the most solid golfers out there right now. He's played in 8 events so far this year, notching 4 top 10’s. He’s young and hungry and eager to make a name for himself. He’s put himself in great positions going into the weekend in many events just falling short, I believe this is his week, and at the absolute worst, expect Will to add another top 10 to his yearly resume.  (Mike)

Tyler: My picks last week were easily my worst in months. First and foremost, I picked Xander to miss the cut and I felt unsure about that last week. He finished in second last week so huge miss there. It got a little bit better with my pick to win. I picked Rory to win and he finished t-13. Not great, but could have been much worse. My dark horse was Jason Day and he missed the cut. Like I said, pretty bad week for my picks. Only way to go is up after a week like last week.

My pick for this week is Francesco Molinari at 25-1. He has kind of become a forgotten man at this point. He has battled injuries since his collapse at The Master’s a few years ago, but he was one of the best players in the world before that. In a week that does not have a big name field he seems like the kind of guy to take advantage of that and find himself back in the winning circle. I typically cheer for Francesco except when he plays against Tiger so it would be great to see him win this week.

My dark horse for this week is Alex Noren at 50-1. I picked Alex a few weeks ago and he played okay, but the week after he played much better. I think his game is trending in the right direction. Again, not a super strong field this week and I think that is a big advantage for those who have won on tour before. If he rolls it well this week he will be right there Sunday afternoon.

My notable to miss the cut this week is Jordan Spieth. I would love to see Spieth follow up last week with another good performance, but if he is that bad off the tee this week he will not be playing the weekend this week. Golf is better when Spieth is playing well, but I do not think he fixes the struggles off the tee in one week and misses the cut along the way. (Tyler)