Pro Golf Now
Fansided

Dark Horses for the Pebble Beach Pro-Am

By Richard McCusker

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 25: Scott Stallings plays his shot from the second tee during the third round of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines South on January 25, 2020 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Donald Miralle/Getty Images)
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 25: Scott Stallings plays his shot from the second tee during the third round of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines South on January 25, 2020 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Donald Miralle/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Before I talk about this week, I want to start off with a recap from last week’s Waste Management Phoenix Open. My three dark horses were Rory Sabbatini, Adam Long, and Matt Jones. Clearly, I showed up late to the small Rory streak. He played horrible Thursday going six-over par, but almost made the cut on Friday by going seven-under, missing the cut by 2 strokes. Adam Long flirted with the cut line and just missed it by 1 shot. Matt Jones did go 10-under and finished in a tie for 30th.

This week the PGA tour is heading to California for the Pebble Beach Pro-Am. This tournament usually has a variety of different names at the top of the board because only a few of the top end guys play it. Nick Taylor won it last year, Kevin Streelman came in 2nd, and our guy last week Matt Jones came in 5th. I don’t know what their salaries were, but these are usually longshots in most tournaments. These are the so called “dark horses” that we want to look for to come out on top in DraftKings tournaments.

More from Pro Golf Now

This week I will be providing three dark horses, meaning players that are longshots, but could play really well for their salary. These dark horses are players that are $7,500 and below. Also I only use DraftKings, so these prices will be for their website, but the players can be used on FanDuel as well.

Dark Horse Number 1

Scott Stallings: This is a Scott Stallings course! He is my first dark horse of the three. He had a top 10 2019 and 2018. Two of the four key stats show that he is in the right form to contend here. He is one of the names I look for when they play this tournament, so I am going to keep going to him at Pebble Beach. I think he is one of the safest dark horses this week.

The stats I like for the course

SG Approach: 41

SG Around the Green: 130

SG Scrambling: 4

Birdie or better %: 214

Dark Horse Number 2

Scott Piercy: He is the second dark horse because he has placed in the top 25, three times in the past three years. T18, T10, and T20. His stats are showing that he should do well again! He also was leading the US Open in 2019, which was at Pebble Beach, but slipped away after the first round and kind of disappeared. This is a much easier field than that tournament though and I expect him to play well again here.

The stats I like for the course

SG Approach: 43

SG Around the Green: 142

SG Scrambling: 14

Birdie or better %: 98

Dark Horse Number 3

Ben Martin: He is my third and final dark horse here because he was came in 25 last year and 26th in 2018. He is going to be super low owned because I know even someone like me, who watches every week, knows very little about Ben Martin. Two of his four key stats look great for here. I think he is one to place in a couple lineups, but do not load up like I will consider doing with Piercy and Stallings.

dark. Next. Brooks Koepka: 2021 FedEx Cup Contender or Pretender?

The stats I like for the course

SG Approach: 223

SG Around the Green: 20

SG Scrambling: 42

Birdie or better %: 167

Home/Golf News