2023 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am: Top 10 Power Rankings
The PGA Tour stays in California this week, heading north from the San Diego area to the scenic Monterey Peninsula.
We’ve arrived at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, a staple on the schedule since 1937.
The event is spread out across three courses: Spyglass Hill Golf Course, Monterey Peninsula Country Club, and Pebble Beach Golf Links.
Players play Spyglass Hill and Monterey Peninsula once over the first three rounds and Pebble Beach once in the first three rounds and again on Sunday if they make the 54-hole cut of top 60 and ties.
Pebble Beach measures at 6,816 yards and features some of the smallest greens players will face all year. There are a lot of doglegs and shorter holes that limit driving distance. Most weeks these days on the PGA Tour it’s a bomb-and-gouge fest, but not here.
Monterey Peninsula tends to play as the easiest of the three and is also under 7,000 yards at 6,958. Players tend to eat up the par-5s here.
Spyglass Hill is the toughest of the three. The 7,035-yard layout is largely inland and treelined, but the wind can still heavily factor it.
All three courses are great, but it’s hard to beat the spectacular views at Pebble Beach.
The rough won’t be out of control and the greens won’t be too speedy with amateurs in the mix, but having a good short game is crucial for pros this week.
The weather forecast is pretty ordinary for this event with temperatures expected in the 40s and 50s Fahrenheit with the possibility of rain on Friday and Sunday. It could get a bit breezy but the wind shouldn’t be out of control.
This event has struggled to attract top talent in recent years, but don’t let that deter you from tuning into one of the must-watch events of the year.
Maybe I can even help you win a little cash by following my power rankings this week. Let’s dive into the top 10:
The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am is an event I would think Kevin Kisner would have better results at than what he does.
In nine tournament appearances, Kiz has made just four cuts with T-10th in 2017 his high-water mark. He did also post T-49th at the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.
Nevertheless, I think this is an opportunity for Kisner to turn the tide at the Monterey Peninsula and show well against a weak field.
In 2017, Kisner shrugged off an opening 1-over 72 at Monterey Peninsula to card 5-under 67 at Spyglass Hill and go 4-under with 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).
He’s one of the more gregarious guys in pro golf, so I can’t imagine playing with an amateur partner all week would be bothersome to him as it might be for others.
Kisner is as well rested as anybody in the field this week. This is the 38-year-old’s first start of 2023.
Last season, the former Georgia Bulldog raked in five top-10s. A few of them came at big events like the Sentry Tournament of Champions (T-8th), Players Championship (4th), and the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play Championship (2nd).
Kisner’s performance was enough to earn him the last captain’s pick on the American team at the Presidents Cup.
The South Carolinian ranked 23rd on the PGA Tour last season in strokes gained per round around the green (.314). A good short game is useful this week as even the best ball strikers are going to miss their fair share of these small greens.
Kisner was also ninth in SG putting (.561).