21D AGO

Horses for Courses: Is Patrick Cantlay ready to pounce at Pebble Beach?

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Written by Mike Glasscott

The PGA TOUR meanders up the California coast to the Monterey Peninsula for the second Signature Event of 2025. The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am returns for the second consecutive season on the two-course rotation of Pebble Beach Golf Links (host) and Spyglass Hill Golf Course. After a loop on each track, the field, which will not be cut after 36 holes, returns to the historical links to play the final two rounds.

Although there are players in the field in 2025 with more decorated histories, 2024 champion Wyndham Clark (+6000) deserves attention after setting the course record at Pebble Beach in the third and final round last year. Circling nine birdies and two eagles, he posted 60, broke the record by two shots, and was three strokes better than the nearest competitor. Posting 17-under, his aggregate on Pebble Beach was three shots better than everyone. Making his fifth appearance from 2019, he also cashed T18 in 2020. Nobody has successfully defended the title since 2010.

Patrick Cantlay (+2000) did not record a bogey or worse on Spyglass in 2024 (T11). In the 2021 edition, he opened with a bogey-free 62 on Pebble Beach before cashing T3. Over his last four visits, the Californian has cashed T11-T3-T4-T11 and has five career paydays inside T11. He should factor again this week on his native Poa annua.

Although he has never lifted the trophy at the end of the week, it is impossible to ignore Jason Day (+3500) and his precision around Pebble Beach. Making his 15th start, the Australian has taken home T24 or better paydays in 12 previous visits. Cashing T6 last year, he finished in the top 10 in nine of his previous 10 tournaments, including T2 in 2018, and is a must-play in every format this week.

The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, contested since 1947 on the Monterey Peninsula, also enjoys a busy recent history. Before the two-course rotation during the Signature Event of 2024, the 2023 and 2022 tournaments featured three courses. Players below are in the field for 2025.

2024Pebble Beach Result
Wyndham Clark -1767-60WIN
Matthieu Pavon -1365-66third
Ludvig Åberg -1265-67second
Tom Hoge -1266-66T6
2023Pebble BeachResult
Denny McCarthy -1169-64T4
Justin Rose -969-66WIN
Taylor Pendrith -971-64T7
2022Pebble BeachResult
Tom Hoge -1363-68Win
Jordan Spieth -1263-69second
Beau Hossler -865-71third

Stretching to 6,972 yards and playing to par 72, Pebble Beach ranks in the top five shortest courses used on TOUR annually. The defense of the links winding around Stillwater Cove is green complexes averaging only 3,500 square feet. The smallest targets on TOUR, the Poa annua putting surfaces will run at 10.5 feet on the Stimpmeter. The ryegrass rough stands between 2 and 3 inches, but the lack of rain in January suggests conditions will be firmer and faster than recent editions.

Englishman Justin Rose (+17000) cashed T6 on his 2016 debut before winning the 2023 edition in his fourth visit to the former Crosby Clam Bake. Defending the title in the Signature Event of 2024 after lifting the trophy in 2023, he cashed T11 while leading the field in total putts.

Only Clark has posted a better two-round aggregate on Pebble Beach than 2022 winner Tom Hoge (+8000). The North Dakota native opened with a bogey-free round of 63 and closed the tournament with a back nine 32. After signing for T48 in defense, he returned last year to hit the top 10 (T6) and add two more rounds in the 60s (66-66). Since 2022, few have had more success on the host course.

Spyglass Hill, in the rotation of courses since 1978, will host half of the field on Thursday and the second half on Friday before ceding duties to Pebble Beach. The par 72 tips at 7,041 yards and is the tougher of the two tracks. The course, designed by Robert Trent Jones in 1966, features four holes with water in play and demanding driving holes. Although the greens are larger, averaging 5,000 square feet, they are perched and provide an additional challenge.

Players listed below are competing this week.

Player/yearLow Spyglass rounds of the week
Thomas Detry (2024)63
Patrick Cantlay (2024)64
Keith Mitchell (2023)67
Beau Hossler (2022)65
Justin Rose (2022)67
Sahith Theegala (2022)68

Thomas Detry (+9000) posted 10 birdies against one bogey to shoot 63 at Spyglass Hill, the best round of 2024. The Belgian shared fourth in his second appearance.

Competing as a sponsor’s exemption, 2017 champion Jordan Spieth (+7000) looks to add to his six top-10s and nine top-25 or better paychecks over 12 events on the Monterey Peninsula. Playing the tournament for the 13th consecutive season, the Texan makes his long-awaited debut after wrist surgery in August.

Notables

  • Only one of the last seven champions was younger than 30.
  • Eight of the last nine winners ranked T11 or better in Putting: Birdie or Better Percentage.
  • Rose is the only champion of the last 10 NOT to finish in the top two in Par 4 Scoring.
  • In 2022, Hoge became just the third champion this century to win for the first time on the PGA TOUR.
  • In 1993, Australian Brett Ogle was the last player to debut and win the event.
  • Only five international players have lifted the trophy, including Justin Rose, the only European winner.
  • Nick Taylor, the 2020 champion, is the last player to win in wire-to-wire fashion. He’s also cashed T30 or better six times.

Oddsmaker’s extras

  • Scottie Scheffler (+400): Made his event debut in 2024 with T6, the Texan fired 64 on Pebble Beach before a quiet 70 in the final round.
  • Ludvig Åberg (+2000): Some suggested the Swede would have knocked off Clark if the tournament went the distance. Playing Pebble Beach bogey-free, he finished solo second on debut.
  • Matthieu Pavon (+40000): The Frenchman arrived and cashed solo third last year after winning his first TOUR event at the Farmers Insurance Open. Posting 13-under on Pebble Beach, only Clark went lower.
  • Denny McCarthy (+8000): After a quiet first two starts, the sublime putter cashed T12 in 2022, T4 in 2023, and T26 in 2024. His lowest round at Pebble was 64 in 2023.
  • Max Homa (+9000): Like Collin Morikawa (+1400; T14 in 2024), he also played college golf up the road in Berkeley. After cashing T10, T14 and T7 between 2019 and 2021, he did not return until 2024 (T66).
  • Eric Cole (+12000): Looking to become the fourth first-time winner on TOUR this century, the Florida man cashed T15 on debut in 2023 and moved up to T14 in 2024.

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