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PGA Tour heads to Pebble Beach Thursday
By: Freddy Wander - StatFox
Published: 2/12/2015  at  5:30:00 AM
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AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am

Tees Off: Thursday, February 12th
Spyglass Hill GC – Pebble Beach, CAPebble Beach GL – Pebble Beach, CAMonterey Peninsula GC – Pebble Beach, CA

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In what is always a fun and eventful week, the PGA heads to Pebble Beach, CA for the AT&T National Pro-Am starting Thursday morning. The event is the most popular Pro-Am tournament in the history of the game and will draw some big celebrity names once again this year with the likes of Bill Murray, Wayne Gretzky, Don Cheadle, Andy Garcia, Buster Posey and Ray Romano all competing. The player’s field will actually be pretty decent this year as well with nine of the top-25 golfers in the world playing across the three courses; including last week’s winner of the Farmer’s Insurance Open, No. 4 player in the world, Jason Day. There will also be two multiple-time winners of the tourney playing this week as both Dustin Johnson (2009, 2010) and Davis Love III (2001, 2003) will attempt to grab a third victory here while Jimmy Walker looks to make it back-to-back wins after a score of 11-under last year despite a Sunday round of 74. Let’s take a look at a few players who have what it takes to win at one of the more laid-back tournaments at these beautiful California courses.

Jimmy Walker: Walker is once again putting together a huge season after winning three of his first eight tournaments last year as he leads the FedEx cup rankings with four top-10 finishes in his six events this season. He’s already earned a win (Sony Open) as well and will be defending his title from last year at Pebble Beach when he was able to rattle off three consecutive rounds of 69 or better to start the week before just holding off Dustin Johnson and Jim Renner after a rough final day. Walker has been solid in all facets of the game, ranking 14th in driving distance (302.4 yards per), 10th in strokes-gained putting (.914) and 29th in GIR (72.2%) as he looks to have another big week.

Dustin Johnson: Johnson had to shake of the rust in his return from a six-month personal absence this past week and despite missing the cut, showed some solid play as he crushed the ball for an average of 320.3 yards per and holed an eagle on his fourth hole to start the tourney. His history here is hard to ignore as he put together back-to-back wins in 2009 and 2010 and has continued to play well with a fifth-place finish in 2012 and a runner-up performance last year. He should be warmed up after last week and will be paired with his future father-in-law, Wayne Gretzky, allowing him to relax and compete for the top position once again come Sunday.

Kevin Na: Na is an incredible talent that has made the cut in each of his past five events and has had a round of 70 or better in seven of his past eight times on the course. He has just one PGA victory under his belt, but has been close to grabbing a trophy at Pebble Beach with a top-25 placing in each of the past three visits here which included a fifth-place in 2012 and a fourth-place last year when he shot eight-under. Look for Na to make a run this week and be near the top of the leaderboard.

Alexander Levy: Levy will come over from the European Tour to play his first PGA event since the WGC-HSBC Champions event where he finished 14th back in November. He has climbed up to 52nd in the world rankings after two victories and one lost playoff across the pond last season. He’s placed 30th or better in three of his four starts this year and should surprise many with some strong play on U.S. soil in this event.

Daniel Berger: Berger is one of five rookies amongst the top-50 in the FedEx Cup standings to start this year and he has done so behind four top-25 finishes with his best coming a few weeks ago when he placed 10th at the Waste Management Open. This California swing is a great opportunity for youngsters to get some rounds in without the pressure of a tremendous field and Berger should be able to put up another solid showing with his big drive (304.6 yards per, 9th on tour) this week.


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