2022 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am: Top 10 power rankings
It was a relatively modest year last year by Kevin Kisner’s standards. He had yet to record a top-10 until June and had just two of them when he arrived at the Wyndham Championship in August.
The Aiken, South Carolina native is comfortable in the southeast. He emerged from a six-man playoff in Greensboro to claim his fourth career PGA Tour title.
The win earned him Ryder Cup buzz, though he ultimately fell just short of receiving a captain’s pick.
While Kisner struggled to close 2021, he’s back playing great golf in 2022. He posted T-8th at the Sentry Tournament of Champions and T-3rd at the Sony Open.
Kisner eschewed the previous two events in California, so he ought to be rested and ready for Pebble Beach.
After playing poorly here early in his career, Kisner’s made four of his last five cuts and took T-10th at the 2017 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
In 2017, Kisner shrugged off an opening 72 at Monterey Peninsula to card 67 at Spyglass Hill and 71-69 on the weekend at Pebble. In the two rounds at Pebble, he was fifth in the field in strokes gained approach (5.896) and 14th in SG tee to green (4.606).
Kisner has a reputation as a strong putter and was 32nd on the PGA Tour last season in SG putting (.392). He’s also straight off the tee, ranking 21st in driving accuracy (67.61%).
Kisner’s craftiness will pay off this week, and his lack of distance won’t be a significant factor.
Can you believe it’s been four years since Jason Day’s won an event?
Injuries are a big factor for his recent decline. He plummeted outside the top 100 in the Official World Golf Rankings at the end of 2021.
After last week, Day’s back inside. Still a long way from his former perch at No. 1, but he’s on the right trajectory to try to squeeze the most out of the latter part of a traditional pro golfer’s prime.
Day’s swing looked as fluid as it has in a while, and it produced his highest finish since taking solo fourth place at the 2020 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
The Aussie finished T-3rd at the Farmers Insurance Open. A hole-out from the fairway for eagle on the 14th hole in the final round emitted energy that maybe it was his day. Two bogeys coming in proved it wasn’t.
Day is 34, but an old 34 in golf terms with more than a decade and a half out on tour already. It’s not a given he can remain healthy. If he can, there’s plenty of time to add to his 12 career PGA Tour wins.
As referenced before, Day’s in a good spot to end the drought this week in California.
While he’s never won at Pebble Beach, he’s come awfully close.
Day’s a whopping 13-for-13 making the cut on these grounds, counting two U.S. Open appearances. He’s not just squeaking by to play the weekend, either.
His Pebble Beach Pro-Am resume lists eight top-10s and two more top-15s.
A T-7th last year was his fourth-worst result on these grounds. Crazy stuff.
“I feel very comfortable here,” Day was transcribed by ASAP Sports in 2020.
No kidding.
He continued: “I obviously love the golf courses here. I’ve always played well at Monterey Peninsula. And Pebble’s always been one of my favorite golf courses to play.”
In 2021, Day shot 69, 68, 69 at Pebble Beach and 69 at Spyglass Hill in round two.
In three rounds at Pebble Beach, Day was fifth in the field in total strokes gained around the green (2.854). A good short game is crucial at courses with small greens like these. When clicking, Day has the touch and finesse to go with his power. He can’t unleash at the ball like he used to, so leaning on his craftiness to score well is key.
Day had a rough go of it after leaving the west coast. His only other top-10 came in the summer with a T-10th at the Travelers Championship.
It could be jumping the gun to declare last week’s result as him being back. With that said, against a relatively weak field and a set of courses he devours, there’s no reason Day can’t feast for at least one more week.