Harris English exorcised some demons at last week’s Farmers Insurance Open, putting aside a history of near-misses to win his first PGA Tour title in four years.
2025 US PGA Tour
Signature Event
AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am
Pebble Beach (host course)
Spyglass Hill
30th January – 2nd February
The former Georgia Bulldog proved the most durable player in some challenging conditions, winning the tournament in 8-under-par (the highest winning score since 2016). The tour remains in California for the next event in this West Coast swing: the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Originally known as the Bing Crosby National Pro-Amateur, this event dates all the way back to 1937 (AT&T took over sponsorship duties back in 1986). This event hasn’t always attracted the most elite field (perhaps owing to the pro-am dimension). But that all changed last year, with the event elevated to exulted Signature Event status. Wyndham Clark won last year’s renewal, triumphing in a weather-affected 54-hole edition.
This event used to be staged on three courses in rotation for the first three days (Spyglass Hill, Monterey Peninsula and Pebble Beach). There used to be a cut on Saturday night, with only the top players left to battle it out on Sunday. They decided to streamline the event last year, making it a limited field event featuring 80 players and 80 amateurs. The players and amateurs will alternate between just two courses leading into the weekend (Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill). The amateur portion of the event ends on Friday night, allowing the 80 pros to duke it out on Pebble for the final two rounds (there is no cut in the professional event).
Pebble Beach is one of the most iconic venues in American sport, hosting the US Open six times and the PGA Championship once. What you do off the tee is largely irrelevant around Pebble. Strong iron play is traditionally the greatest bellwether for success around Pebble. The Poa annua green complexes are frightfully small and demand the utmost precision from the tee: 14 of the last 18 winners have ranked inside the top 9 for GI. It may also behoove you to look for strong links exponents with some course experience. Spyglass Hill is more tree-lined and plays marginally tougher than Pebble (unless the wind really picks up). It has plenty of its own admirers, with YouTube golfer Grant Horvat saying that he couldn’t pick between the two courses.
World No.1 Scottie Scheffler will be making his first start of the year, recovering from minor hand surgery following a Christmas Day mishap. Former World No.1 Rory McIlroy will also be making his debut on this year’s PGA Tour. The Northern Irishman did tee it up in Dubai a few weeks back, ultimately settling for a share of 4th at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic. World No.2 Xander Schauffele will not be in attendance after failing to recover from a longstanding rib injury. Three-time major champ Jordan Spieth will be making his first appearance after having surgery on his left
wrist. Elsewhere, the likes of Hideki Matsuyama and Justin Thomas will look to build on strong early season form.
Past Winners
2024: Wyndham Clark (-17) * 54 holes
2023: Justin Rose (-18)
2022: Tom Hoge (-19)
2021: Daniel Berger (-18)
2020: Nick Taylor (-19)
2019: Phil Mickelson (-19)
Betting Favourites (To Win): Scottie Scheffler (9/2), Rory McIlroy (12/1), Collin Morikawa (14/1), Justin Thomas (16/1), Ludvig Aberg (16/1)
Value Bets
Jason Day- To Win (33/1), To Place (7/1)
This is a textbook horses-for-courses pick. Former World No.1 Jason Day has a sensational record in this event. Since 2015, he has finished T7 or better in seven of his nine starts (the other two years he finished T11 and T24). He also arrives in solid form, finishing T3 at the American Express before fading on Sunday to finish T32 at the Farmers Insurance Open. Day’s irons seem to be in fine working order, and I think we can safely ignore that four-over-par final round at Torrey Pines.
Nick Taylor- To Win (66/1), To Place (14/1)
Nick Taylor looks like impossibly good value at 66/1. A former winner of his event, Taylor has started the season remarkably well, winning his 5th career title at the Sony Open before a 12th place finish at the American Express. Three of his five career victories have come in his last 41 starts (a pretty handy conversion rate). The Canadian has a penchant for smaller courses and doesn’t mind performing on the big stage (he held off Scheffler and Theegala to win last year’s Phoenix title).
The Man to Beat- Collin Morikawa- To Win (14/1), To Place (3/1)
Collin Morikawa just looks like the ideal fit this week. He enjoyed an excellent 2024 comeback campaign and started this year in similar fashion, finishing runner-up at the Sentry (the first Signature Event of the year). At his best, Morikawa is one of the deadliest iron players in the game. The California native has already won a major in Northern California, winning the PGA
Championship at Harding Park (which is also a relatively short course that requires great iron play and familiarity with Poa Annua greens).
