The PGA Tour continues this week as it visits Pebble Beach Golf Links for the 2022 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Read on below to see my prediction for who will win the tournament, as well as my predictions for who will finish in the top 10, my dark horse, and my player to fade.
Winner: Maverick McNealy- McNealy has quietly put together a solid 2021-2022 campaign, with 1 top 10 and 6 top 30 finishes in 8 starts. McNealy comes back to Pebble Beach with a ton of momentum, finishing in the top 5 here each of the last two years, including a runner up showing to Daniel Berger last year. Currently ranked 19th in Strokes Gained: Total, McNealy is coming up aces in all facets of his game and I predict he will bring home his maiden PGA Tour victory on Sunday!
Top 10: Jason Day- Day’s season started off slow, with a best finish of T-49 in his first 4 starts. Day struck gold last week at one of his better courses in Torrey Pines, with his T-3 finish being his first top 10 on tour since the Travelers Championship last summer. Day brings that momentum into another one of his best events on tour, where he has had 8 top 10’s, 10 top 15’s, and 0 missed cuts in 12 career starts. Day made his mark on the putting greens last week, picking up 1.31 strokes on the field in the Strokes Gained: Putting category. If Day can keep the putter going this week, he will be in the mix for the win and will most certainly be in line for another top 10 finish.
Dark Horse: Russell Knox- Ranked #261 in the Official World Golf Rankings, Knox comes into this week under the radar, with 5 top 30 finishes in 8 career starts at Pebble Beach, including 3 top 15 finishes in his last 4 starts here, capped off by a T-7 showing in 2021. Knox has had an up-and-down season to date, with 3 top 30’s and 4 missed cuts in 9 starts. However, Knox comes into the week ranked 24th in Strokes Gained: Approach-The-Green, which will be vital with Pebble Beach’s greens being the smallest on tour. A win would be unlikely, but another top 30 showing is certainly with reach for Knox.
Player to Fade: Peter Jacobsen- Winner of this tournament in 1995, Peter Jacobsen will be making his 33rd start in this event, 45 years after his first start here in 1977. Jacobsen last made the cut in this tournament in 2006 and is making his first PGA Tour start since an appearance here in 2018. Jacobsen hasn’t fared much better on the Champions Tour in recent years either, with 4 finishes of 70th or worse in 5 starts during the 2020-2021 season. Even in a weaker than normal field, Jacobsen is a lock to miss the cut this week.